Will Google's Chrome OS kill the hard drive?

Google just unveiled its new "cloud-friendly" operating system. Is this the beginning of the end for traditional computers?

Bye-bye hard drive? Google's Chrome OS will put everything in the cloud.
(Image credit: Getty)

On Tuesday, Google previewed its new Chrome operating system, which may pave the way for a new kind of personal computing. Chrome does not store files, applications, and other data on a computer's hard drive, but on online servers — aka "the cloud" — potentially eliminating the need for a traditional hard drive. Although Chrome won't be available to run on most laptops until 2011, Google has started a pilot program, releasing a minimalist netbook called the CR-48, that runs on the new OS. Is Chrome more hype than substance? (Watch a Google Chrome OS intro)

This could be a pivotal innovation: Right now, the Chrome OS has to "rely heavily on third parties to fill in its functionality gaps," says Jason Kincaid in Tech Crunch, but once those issues are addressed, Chrome "is going to be a big deal." It could even "eventually become a viable alternative to Microsoft Windows in the workplace."

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