Google’s Chrome OS gets previewed

Google has given the world a sneak peek at its new Chrome operating system.

The Chrome OS will do away with the traditional desktop, being browser based.

It’s designed to simplify the computing experience, providing a very swift boot up (7 or so seconds) and quick and easy access to the web.

This means you won’t be able to install normal applications on it – just web applications. It will also require a solid state drive to provide that blazingly fast boot-up.

The OS will work online, with some sort of limited offline functionality expected. Chrome will store the user’s data online on Google servers, so if you lose or break your machine, you’ll always have a backup.

You should see the first netbooks carrying the Chrome OS out in time for next Christmas.

Microsoft will certainly be watching the launch very closely.