Google Chrome OS

Well, there's little doubt that tablets running Google's Chrome operating system are coming soon--the only question is when.

Talks are under way between Google and Dell to bring Chrome OS, the search giant's cloud-centric operating system, to Dell's computer lineup, according to a Dell executive.

Google is hard at work putting the finishing touches on the Chrome OS--expected to hit the streets as a netbook operating system before the holidays. A new feature dubbed "chromoting" hopes to bridge the divide between Chrome and Windows, but the sketchy details thus far don't make it sound all that compelling.

Google's Chrome OS is coming to a netbook near you sometime later this year. The Web-centric, Linux-based, open source platform will offer a lightweight, cost-effective alternative operating system for portable computing.

It's official: Google plans to debut its Chrome operating system in the fourth quarter of this year, although the company has yet to provide an exact launch date. Sundar Pichai, Google's vice president of product management, made the announcement Wednesday at the Computex trade show in Taipei, according to IDC News.

Remember Chrome OS, Google's stripped-to-the-browser operating system? It's reportedly ready for prime time, with Chrome OS devices from Acer leading the way.

Despite Google's move into the operating system (OS) space, the idea of a primarily cloud-centric OS is nothing revolutionary; the earliest examples date back to 1999. And although numerous other attempts at developing Web-centric OSes none up to this point have truly broken into the mainstream. But some current offerings present welcome alternatives to mainstream operating systems, packing in useful features and making it easier to access your online content.

The Great Recession cast a shadow on all sectors of the economy in 2009. IT fared better than most, however, and the slump did not curb the dynamic nature of the industry. Acquisitions among big vendors continued to reshape the market, operating-system wars extended to mobile battlefields, microblogging became a powerful source of real-time information, and the take-up of small, 'Net-connected devices was stronger than ever. Here, in no particular order, is the IDG News Service's pick of the top 10 technology stories of 2009.

The already intense Google-Microsoft rivalry heated up considerably last month with the long-expected release of Google's Chrome operating system to the open-source community.

Acer may be the first manufacturer out of the gate with a Google Chrome OS netbook in the second half of next year, according to the latest Internet rumors. JT Wang, the computer manufacturer's chairman recently told DigiTimes that he was confident his company would be "the first vendor to launch [a] Chrome-based netbook" by next year.

When Google first announced its Chrome OS project, many commentators assumed that the Internet giant was challenging the dominance of Microsoft Windows. The truth is, Chrome is not a threat to Windows, OS X, or any distribution of Linux--nor is it meant to be.

Have you already tried Chrome OS using a virtual machine, and were less than impressed? Well now you can get a feel for how Google's Web-centric operating system will run natively on your machine. T

Google released its Chrome operating system last week to a great deal of hoopla and debate — depending on your point of view, it was either the Next Big Thing or Much Ado About Nothing.

Google's mantra is "Don't be evil." Let's hope it the tech giant means it, because if Chrome OS succeeds in replacing Windows at the world's dominant operating system, Google's sway over the computing world could be exponentially higher than it is today.