Google announced its long teased Chrome OS this week, complete with an “app store” that will serve up Web apps that will run inside the operating system and a pilot program for people who want to try the new OS on the first notebook computer that will run it, the Google Cr-48.
You can sign up to be a part of the Cr-48 pilot program now, and the new Chrome App Store is on the way with a number of feature apps including Springpad, the New York Times, and more.
Google also noted that Acer and Samsung would also be releasing Chrome OS notebooks in 2011, did a demo of the OS, and explained to the crowd of onlookers that the operating system is for people who “live on the Web,” and as initially predicted, the OS and almost all of the notebook’s data lives on the Web, hosted by the app owners or by Google.
Whether or not the new OS is primarily for netbooks or if we’re witnessing a revolution in the operating system market remains to be seen. We’ll see when Chrome OS notebooks are available whether people are willing to drop Windows or Mac OS to flock to them.