Google has announced that it is developing an open source operating system (OS) based on its Chrome browser for use with netbooks.
The Google Chrome OS will be available on netbook computers in the second half of 2010, with the code for the project to be open sourced later this year.
Google says that the key features of the OS are speed, security and simplicity; it has been designed to get users from system start up to the web within a few seconds, has a minimal user interface and features a redesigned security architecture.
"Users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work," Sundar Pichai and Linus Upson of Google write on the search engine's official blog.
They add: "Any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the internet."
The OS will run on x86 and ARM chips and will be as web based as possible; all online apps will work automatically and new apps can be created using web technologies, Google states.
These apps will be able to be used with any standards based browser across the Windows, Mac and Linux platforms. Google stresses that the Chrome OS is an entirely separate project to its Android OS for mobile devices, however.
It is hoped that the Chrome OS will eventually be able to be expanded to power full sized desktop systems.
Chrome currently accounts for 1.75 per cent of the global browser market, according to StatCounter.
