Google’s initial release of its long-awaited Chrome operating system is expected to focus on the lucrative laptop sector.
“Chrome OS will be offered to users in the fourth quarter [of 2010],” Google VP Sundar Pichai confirmed in a speech at Computex 2010, which was quoted by Network World.
“For Chrome OS, we are focused on laptops for this year.”
Pichai also noted that the grand opening of Google’s Chrome web store would coincide with the launch of the new OS so “people can download Web applications [to] install on [their] operating system.”
He added that Chrome OS was designed for “clamshell devices” with touchpads, keyboards and screens between 10 inches and 12 inches across.
Nevertheless, Pichai emphasized that any device – including a netbook – which met the company’s hardware specifications would have an “easy time” winning Google certification.
However, Jeff Baker of TFTS cautioned that the OS “probably wouldn’t” replace PCs or Macs “anytime soon.”
“[Still], having Chrome OS on things like a netbook or tablet [doesn’t] seem like a bad idea. We’ve already seen Android make its way onto both netbooks and tablets but many users have questioned whether or not the operating system is a proper fit for such applications,” wrote Baker.
“With Chrome OS, Google takes a step behind Android and delivers a more PC like experience with familiar applications like their Chrome browser and virtually their entire suite of freely available services.”
