A day after the news got out that Google was banning Windows use among its employees due to security concerns, they’ve announced, if not a hard release date, a release ballpark for their own Chrome operating system.
According to Sundar Pichai, Google’s VP of product management, Chrome OS will be coming some time in the “late fall.”
Reuters: “Chrome OS is one of the few future operating systems for which there are already millions of applications that work,” Pichai said. “You don’t need to redesign Gmail for it to work on Chrome. Facebook does not need to write a new app for Chrome.”
One thing to drool about: Whereas OS X and Windows cost money, Chrome OS will be free — which could make for some very, very cheap hardware possibilities. (Yes, you can currently buy a netbook with Linux, but have fun asking for that at Best Buy.) With a late fall release, Michael Arrington’s prediction of “a high performance Google branded netbook running Chrome OS for next to nothing” by this coming Christmas may seem a little unlikely, but here’s hoping.
