Aiming to provide a fast, simple, and more secure computing experience for people who spend most of their time on the web
In July Google announced that they were working on Google Chrome OS, an open source operating system for people who spend most of their time on the web. Yesterday Google open-sourced the project as Chromium OS a full year before Google Chrome OS will be ready for users. As with the Google Chrome browser, development will be done in the open from this point on. This means the code is free, accessible to anyone and open for contributions. The Chromium OS project includes the current code base, user interface experiments and some initial designs for ongoing development.
Google Chrome OS makes all apps as web apps. The entire experience takes place within the browser and there are no conventional desktop applications. This means users do not have to deal with installing, managing and updating programs.
Because all apps live within the browser, there are significant benefits to security. Unlike traditional operating systems, Chrome OS doesn’t trust the applications you run. Each app is contained within a security sandbox making it harder for malware and viruses to infect your computer. Furthermore, Chrome OS barely trusts itself. Every time you restart your computer the operating system verifies the integrity of its code. If your system has been compromised, it is designed to fix itself with a reboot. While no computer can be made completely secure, Google will try to make life much harder (and less profitable) for the bad guys. See more about security in the video below.
Additionally Google is obsessed with speed. They are taking out every unnecessary process, optimizing many operations and running everything possible in parallel. This means you can go from turning on the computer to surfing the web in a few seconds. Their obsession with speed goes all the way down to the metal. They are specifying reference hardware components to create the fastest experience for Google Chrome OS.
Google Chrome OS will be ready for consumers this time next year.
