Dell in Talks with Google about Chrome OS

June 21, 2010 By Geoff Duncan

Reports have Dell is in talks with Google about making its forthcoming Chrome OS a pre-installed OS on some systems.

It’s no secret that Google is getting ready to launch its lightweight Chrome OS later this year—but if the company wants to carve out a market against industry-dominating Microsoft Windows, it’s going to need to partner with computer makers to get Chrome OS pre-installed on new computers. Today, Reuters is reporting that number-three computer maker Dell is in talks with Google about putting Chrome OS on computers…although no details have been released.

Reuters quotes Dell’s president for Greater China and South Asia Amit Midha as saying talks are underway, but that there weren’t yet any firm announcements to be made.

Google’s Chrome OS is intended to be a lightweight, fast-booting operating system that, at least initially, targets comparatively low-power and consumer-oriented computing platforms like netbooks. Like Google’s Android operating system, aimed at mobile devices, Chrome OS has been open sourced, so OEMs and developers can build their own variations and solutions, and Chrome OS in term can leverage innovations added to the open source repository. Chrome OS will be almost entirely Web-focused, and an emphasis on providing a solid foundation for cloud-based storage, applications, and services, rather than running local applications and making users manage a file system.

Earlier this month, Google announced it expects Chrome OS will be available on computers this fall; Google has also been working on designs for Chrome OS tablets that could potentially compete with the likes of the Apple iPad.

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Dell acquires cloud computing company, Boomi at 10:05pm 2nd November 2010 [...] to drive costs down and innovation up.”Today’s announcement represents another step by Dell to build a technology portfolio for growing businesses seeking the benefits of web-based computing [...]
Paul at 7:53pm 21st June 2010 Google's Chrome OS - Let the excitement begin. I'm using Google Chrome Browser 6.0.437.3 dev and its awesome. I feel Google's Chrome OS has a lot of promise and can herald something new and great. With such a great OS for free, prices of PC's should become even more competitive!
1. ianbell330 at 8:15pm 21st June 2010 Hmm, I am not too sure about this. It reminds me of the time that Wal-Mart tried to sell those Linux based system and failed because customers thought they could do everything with them that you could do with Windows. I think a lot of people will be very upset with the limited functionality of the Chrome OS personally. Geeks need not apply IMO.