Google Planning Its Own Operating System

Google announced this week that it will release an open-source operating system for netbooks this fall. The Google Chrome OS will operate netbooks, which are scaled-down laptops designed primarily for doing webby things, like reading the news, checking, email, etc.

Google has mentioned several goals for its Linux-based OS:

• It will be free and open-source.
• It will boot quickly, getting users onto the web in seconds.
• Its design will be minimalist, much like the Google Chrome web browser.
• Most of the functionality of computers powered by the OS will come from web-based applications, like Gmail, Google Docs, etc.
• Files will also be available offline, presumably using Google Gears and Google Apps.
  

Google Plans a PC Operating System
New York Times

Introducing the Google Chrome OS
Official Google Blog

Google Releasing Chrome Operating System
Lifehacker