Multitouch in Chrome OS? Maybe, But Don't Hold Your Breath

The hype around Google Chrome OS has died down a bit now that Google unveiled its first operating system (not accounting for Android on the mobile front). Scheduled to debut in time for holiday season 2010, Google still has a lot of work ahead of it and, while we have a general idea of what the company has envisioned, a lot of the details are still lacking. One feature that got pushed into the spotlight recently is 'touch' thanks to the overhyped Apple iPad launch. Some people have been asking if Chrome OS gets touch, or maybe even multitouch, support and they've not gotten some sort of answer. The official version is 'no', or rather 'no comment', but reading between the lines reveals a 'maybe'.

When asked whether Chrome OS gets touch support, Senior Product Manager of Search Anders Sandholm “chuckled nervously,” as TechRadar puts it, before answering, rather vaguely, "I can't... I mean... right now we are targeting netbooks, that's what we're focused on, but I expect it to work well... we expect it to target everything up to desktop computers. Chrome OS will be built for a specific hardware setup."

Chrome OS clearly aimed at netbooks

Does that mean that Google is working on touch support and isn't revealing it yet or that the feature is still an option, but no decision has been made? It's anyone's guess at this point, but don't hold your breath for the feature in the first public releases coming in less than a year's time. Google has made it very clear that the focus is on netbooks and capable ones at that.

It said that it wanted a full-blown computer with a no-compromises keyboard and a large enough screen, possibly aiming at 12 inch rather than the standard 10 inch displays in netbooks. It also intends to keep the price down to make the devices affordable and even a 10 inch touch display would certainly drive up prices considerably. One thing is for sure, touch isn't a priority right now.

Android and iPad

That may change, of course, if the iPad becomes a runaway success, somewhat unlikely from what we've seen so far. However, netbooks are just the first step and Google has said it planned to conquer everything from mobile devices to desktop PCs and this very likely means that touch support will be a part of Chrome OS at some point. Let's not forget that Google already has an OS to counter the iPad, Android, the very same OS that competes with the iPhone which, incidentally, shares its operating system with the newly launched tablet. If a hardware manufacturer would want to release an iPad competitor, Android would probably be much more suitable and Android-based tablets are already in the works.