While Google Chrome OS will take several months to hit the market, the company has already provided some selected customers with Chrome OS-powered laptops.

Google's new CR-48 laptop runs the beta version of Chrome OS, which has been designed to allow it to run on computers that make use of flash chips for storage instead of hard drives. Reviews suggest that the CR-48 laptop takes just 25 seconds to start from a cold boot.

The Chrome OS does not require users to purchase program discs and download large apps as all of its apps are web-based. Chrome OS is very easy to maintain because updates are those for browser that are pushed out to users automatically.

The Chrome browser comes with icons for basic apps. There is a getting started app, two games plus links for YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Talk and the Chrome Web Store; along with Scratchpad, a note-taking app.

Web apps run as separate tabs within the Chrome browser rather than as programs. It is not always easy to switch among open apps because Chrome OS does not characterize apps as separate windows.

Users may encounter some difficulty in finding additional web apps, but the company is trying to solve the problem by creating an app store on its web site like the one on its Android phones. One drawback of the announced Chrome App Store may be the file size of packaged apps (10 Mbytes). However, the company has promised that the drawback would be removed.