The announcement a few days ago of Google's new Chrome OS was simultaneously shocking and expected. It's a typically understated and quietly ambitious move on behalf of Google. It's also proof -- if it were needed -- that Google people are supremely smart. They have their sights firmly set on the future as well as the here and now.

Chrome OS is initially targeted at netbook computers but it's anticipated it will spread to more mainstream computing devices as time goes on. Like Intel's Moblin OS, Chrome OS is a proof of concept that will use the hothouse environment of netbook computing to grow and mature.

As has been predicted for some time, Google has announced a new operating system project: Google Chrome OS. This is separate from Android, Google's mobile phone OS.

Initially aimed at netbooks, but seemingly intended to mature into a platform for all kinds of computing devices, Chrome OS is a "open source, lightweight operating system". It won't be available until the second half of 2010, but the source code will be made available later this year, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see some kind of usable release about that time too.

Moblin is an Intel-created open-source operating system for netbooks and, specifically, the kind of people who use them.

On a technical level this means Moblin is built for the Atom x86 chip found in many netbooks, while on a practical level it means Moblin is an Internet- and multimedia-focused operating system. Moblin is less about knocking-up spreadsheets on the move and more about twittering, updating your Facebook account, and watching movies on the go.