Google wowed the world this week with the announcement that they would be developing their own operating system, primarily destined for netbooks. Receiving a plethora of mixed reviews before any firm details are even available, Google has indicated that they are already working with numerous hardware vendors to get industry support for the as of yet unborn platform. Vendor support is critical to getting any new endeavor, hardware or software, distributed; so an early relationship development would be very beneficial to Google's new OS. Are Google's claims true, however?
PC Magazine wanted to find out, and did some probing of big-name vendors that are commonly associated with netbooks. What was found was very interesting. It seems that if Google truly is working with hardware vendors, they are either in the "no comment" stage or so deep within the company that no information is available. Dell and Microsoft, for instance, declined to mention any plans they have regarding the future Google Chrome OS. Asus, the pioneer of the netbook market, also had nothing to say. HP was willing to say they are "examining" the platform, but nothing more. Even Google themselves were tight-lipped about the project and where it is heading, and how it will impact Google's existing mobile endeavors.
So who exactly is onboard with Chrome OS? It does seem that Acer definitely would be, as they've already admitted in the past that they are working on an "Android for the netbook" solution, which could also indicate Chrome OS. Is Google's list of supporters shorter than they want us to believe, or are people just being silent at the moment?