Cloud computing central feature of upcoming Google OS

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

A Google executive recently revealed the company's upcoming operating system, Chrome OS, will be heavily integrated with the cloud, the New York Times reports.

Unlike traditional operating systems, Google vice president of engineering Linus Upson said the Chrome OS will function more like a web browser, managing Google's web-based products, such as Docs, Gmail and Picasa in the cloud.

Google already has a web browser with the same name, a fact that Upson acknowledges may cause confusion among some users.

"When people look at Chrome OS, they're going to be like, 'It's just a browser, there's nothing exciting here,'" he said, according to the Times. "Exactly. It's just a browser, there's nothing exciting here - that's the point."

Google originally planned to introduce the new operating system on a netbook computer scheduled to be released by the end of the year. However, according to the Register, Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently told an audience at the Web 2.0 Summit it was still "a few months away."