A Guide to Chrome OS

The Concept What has gained Chrome OS an equal number of supporters and cynics is its central concept: browser based Cloud Computing. After all this means Chrome OS is little more than an operating system which loads the Chrome web browser.

The flip side is knockers will say it is all potential

The flip side is knockers will say it is all potential and very little substance. You'll need a continuous Internet connection to make the most out of Chrome OS and during HTML5 means some functionality will be available offline it is incredibly restrictive in a crisis. Even more It can be argued that Android already provides a neater mobile solution and there is little need for Google to muddy the waters with Chrome OS to begin with.

More than 500 apps are already in place from the likes of Amazon's 'Window Shop' and The New York Times to HTML5-enhanced games just as Poppit from EA's recent purchase Pogo. A vital role of apps is they work offline so even without Internet access you can all in all get on with much of your work the same way you would on a Windows or Mac machine. Interestingly application stores appear to be where all computer platforms are headed with Apple revealing in October they will be central to Mac OS X Lion and leaks suggesting they are key to Windows 8 as so then.

The Chrome OS browser itself

As for the Chrome OS browser itself, we learnt only minor components: Google Instant is coming to the Omnibox meaning you won't need to visit Google.com to get the arguable benefits of dynamic results, during there will be a super quick integrated PDF reader, compatibility with Citrix for businesses and improved security through integrated encryption and extended 'sandboxing'.