Google Chrome OS to launch this week?

Sick of Windows 7 already? TechCrunch is claiming that the first version Google's Chrome OS -- a thin operating system primarily designed for simple devices like netbooks -- will be ready for download this week.

News about the new OS has been rather minimal since it was announced this July, when Google stated that it would be officially launching the Chrome OS in late 2010. The company hasn't formally announced the OS will be arriving this week, but an early version is now being promised soon, at least according to one "reliable source."

One thing's for sure: Chrome OS, assuming it arrives as rumored, will be a very early beta version of the software. Drivers, as TechCrunch notes, will be the big problem at this point, and it's likely that Chrome OS will work on only a small number of machines that are pre-approved to use it (not that that's likely to stop tinkerers from trying to install it anyway) -- machines that are likely to be netbooks with known hardware configurations. And even if Chrome does run on your computer, don't expect printers, add-on wireless gear, and most other external peripherals to work properly.

No one is sure what Chrome OS will look like or what features it will include, other than the Chrome web browser and, clearly, close integration with Google's suite of online services. Even screenshots have yet to be officially released, leaving the tech world with nothing to do but speculate as to what the Chrome OS experience will resemble.

Whatever happens, the prospect of Chrome OS being preinstalled on computers is probably still nine months away -- at least. And a final version of the OS may look considerably different from any beta the company releases this week. If Google's history of incredibly lengthy beta periods has taught us anything, it's that the company will release no code... before its time.