Got Google Chrome OS? Netbook Hardware Partners Revealed

Google is pairing with the two leading netbook manufacturers and a host of other vendors for the initial rollout of its Chrome operating system.

Shortly after unveiling its brand-new operating system, Google posted a FAQ on its Google Chrome Blog outlining the initial slate of hardware partners it has lined up to build and design a device that the new OS will run on.

Two of the first-run partners are Asus and Acer, which, in the netbook field is no surprise. Asus invented the netbook and Acer has quickly come to dominate that market. Both are strong players in the field and in many ways lead netbook innovation.

The other hardware partners include Hewlett-Packard -- the overall market-share leader in shipped PCs -- Lenovo and Toshiba. Chipmakers Freescale, Texas Instruments and Qualcomm are also on board.

Google address the cost of its Chrome OS as well, assuring potential users that because it will be an open-source product, the OS will be free.

While the announcement of the Chrome OS sent shockwaves through the blogosphere, it's still important to note that a product is still some ways away. According to Google, the source code for the browser will be available later this year with Chrome OS coming out of beta in the second half of 2010.

It will be interesting to see how Chrome is built and, perhaps, learn more about why Google is focusing on netbooks. While that market may be exploding in sales, a netbook is most often a secondary device. Built with an Intel Atom processor and lower memory and storage, netbooks aren't equipped to run the business applications required on a full-size notebook or desktop.

And if Google is serious about making a run at Microsoft Windows, something the blogosphere seems to be sure of, Chrome will have to migrate onto business platforms. Netbooks, then, could simply be a proving ground for the OS to see if the search engine giant's approach to an operating system -- namely that the Web is all users need -- will work.

Then again, it could be possible that Google doesn't have designs on Windows. Netbooks are designed for surfing the Web, interacting on social networks, streaming video and other tasks that don't require much power. If the Chrome OS is designed just to harness the power of the Web in a lightweight manner, then netbooks, and whatever market share Google can grab there, might be the right platform.

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