Yesterday, Google showed the world its upcoming Linux based Chrome operating system for the first time. Till now, the project had been all theory and talk, but now the company has given something much more concrete to bank on. Although it is still at least a year till the OS is actually released, but Google did give the world its open source code and displayed what it would be like when in action.

Keeping things simple, Google is not aiming at taking over the PCs of the world, but experts still believe that once out, the Chrome OS could pose a mighty threat to Windows. Chrome is a "browser and cloud-based" operating system for netbooks and lays emphasis on being fast, simple and secure. The new OS aims at shifting users from traditional operating systems to the cloud computing system. Chrome will not support hard drives, only data, and it will run only web based applications.  Installation of desktop-similar software will not be allowed.

The fact that the Chrome can protect itself well against malware attacks makes it very attractive from the security point of view. If any application on the OS appears to be in danger of being corrupted by viruses, it is designed to reboot itself. A clean version of the operating system is then downloaded. User data will be stored in "Google's cloud computing service and will be encrypted and synchronized constantly between the netbook and the cloud".

After yesterday's glimpses, everyone is now more eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Google Chrome OS. Some experts, however, have been quick to warn that Google should speed its launch; otherwise the excitement might die down.