Here’s another take on Google’s Chrome OS. According to Techrepublic, here’s what we already know:
It will run with a Linux kernel as its base
It will boot directly into the Chrome Web browser
It will be aimed primarily at netbooks
It will run on both x86 and ARM processors
It will not be designed to have local storage; all data will be stored in the cloud
Google will not entice developers to build software to run on the Chrome OS; instead, they want them to build Web apps that will run on any standards-based browser
The three most important features will be “speed, simplicity and security,” according to Google
Google will release the software to the open source community before the end of 2009
Announced Chrome OS hardware partners: Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba.
Netbooks running Chrome OS will be available in the second half of 2010

So far, the idea of cloud computing is still being developed as an alternate way of bringing technology to the end users (Software as a Service or SaaS, Platform as a Service or PaaS), but I think Google is making a gamble on whether a lot of people can appreciate this idea.