What is Chrome OS ?

1. Chrome OS is a Linux kernel-based operating system designed by Google to work primarily with web applications.

Chrome OS is built upon the open source project called Chromium OS which, unlike Chrome OS, can be compiled from the downloaded source code. Chrome OS is the commercial version installed on specific hardware from Google's manufacturing partners. The launch date for retail hardware featuring Chrome OS was delayed from late 2010[12] to June 15, 2011, when "Chromebooks" from Samsung, and then Acer shipped in July.

Laptops running Chrome OS are known collectively as "chromebooks". The first was the CR-48, a reference hardware design that Google gave to testers and reviewers beginning in December 2010. Retail machines followed in May 2011. A year later, in May 2012, a desktop design marketed as a "chromebox" was released by Samsung.

The Google Chrome Operating System (Chrome OS) was announced by Google nine months after it released the Chrome browser. Google Chrome OS is described as a lightweight operating system that will make its debut targeting netbook and mobile devices.

The OS, which is the Google Chrome Web browser running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel, is expected to be able to run on x86 as well as ARM chips. Google is expected to open source the code in 2009, and netbooks running the Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010.

The Google Chrome OS will soon have competition from Firefox OS, a similar lightweight, open source operating system built on the Linux kernel.  The Mozilla operating system project started out under the Boot to Gecko name, and devices powered by the Firefox OS are expected to start appearing in early 2013.

Google has encouraged developers to build not just conventional Web applications for Chrome OS, but Packaged applications using the company's Package App Platform. Packaged apps are modified Web applications written in HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS. They have the look and feel of traditional "native" applications and lack the address bar, tab strip and other elements typically associated with an application that runs on a browser. Packaged apps load locally and are thus less dependent on the network and more apt to remain functional without an Internet connection.

Since Google I/O 2014, Native Android applications have also become supported in the platform.

Design goals for Chrome OS's user interface included using minimal screen space by combining applications and standard Web pages into a single tab strip, rather than separating the two. Designers considered a reduced window management scheme that would operate only in full-screen mode. Secondary tasks would be handled with "panels": floating windows that dock to the bottom of the screen for tasks like chat and music players. Split screens were also under consideration for viewing two pieces of content side-by-side. Chrome OS would follow the Chrome browser's practice of leveraging HTML5's offline modes, background processing, and notifications. Designers proposed using search and pinned tabs as a way to quickly locate and access applications.