When Google first announced Android in late 2007, I began to wonder if Google would stop at smartphones. Then Google announced the Chrome browser in late 2008, which, from the very beginning, showed the underpinnings of a full operating system. Google's Chrome OS for netbooks, announced late yesterday, is the logical next step for Google to take.Consider the amount of software and services that Google makes for PCs. Not just Web-based, mind you, but device-side software. Here's a short list: Chrome, Desktop, Earth, Picasa, and Pack. There's more.

Combine those utilities with Google's online software, and it's obvious that Google's services alone can handle nearly any task the Web users could have a need for. I use all of the Google services mentioned above, as well as its Web-based services such as Gmail, Apps, Docs, Sites, Calendar, Photos, Blogger, Reader and more. The few desktop apps I use for my daily duties are limited to Photoshop and iMovie.

When you add up all that Google has already built with the growing use of the Web for many computing and networking tasks, it's no surprise that Google would attempt to wrap everything together in one shiny package. Enter Chrome OS.

Google says very bluntly that Chrome OS is meant for those who spend most of their computing time on the Web. Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management and Linus Upson, Engineering Director, writes:

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

That all sounds good to me, but there are many other things to weigh here. How will Google solve issues such as integration with third-party devices? As it is, many suppliers of tech equipment already have two operating systems to support (three if you count Linux). Will they play ball and throw in support for Chrome OS, too.

And what about the viability of netbooks? They were all the rage the first quarter of 2009, but the Internet love affair with netbooks already appears to be fading. Does Google think it can keep the netbook category alive with Chrome OS, enhance it, dominate it?

Google says it is working with hardware vendors to bring the OS to market by mid-2010, but the OS will be open sourced later this year. I think it's pretty clear that "normal" PCs will still be required for the heavy lifting that is serious media manipulation and other intensive computing tasks.

Google also makes it clear that this is a different path from Android, its mobile operating system for smartphones. While there will be overlap between the two (duh), Google thinks that Chrome OS will be better suited to some tasks that Android just can't handle. How Google ties Chrome OS, its existing services, and Android together could spell the mobile computing paradigm of the future. Or, it could fall flat on its face.

Either way, this will definitely be an interesting product to watch evolve.

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