Google yesterday demonstrated an early version of its Chrome operating system, announcing that it would be released to the open source community.

Confused by the difference between the browser and the OS? Wondering what Google is on about when it talks about cloud computing and SSD? Read on to find out.

What is Google Chrome? Isn’t that the same as the browser?

Chrome is Google’s development project that covers a browser and an operating system.

The OS will be very similar to the browser, largely because it will only run web apps. So it will be mostly browser, plus a few necessary bits like file system, when it does show up on devices next year.

That means that some of the development that happens in the OS could add features to the browser, and that the current early look of the OS actually looks quite like the browser, with tabs and things like that.

What do you mean it’ll only run web apps?
Unlike a standard OS, all the applications will be run from the web – in the cloud. Your email will be web-based, your docs will be web-based, none of this download and install to run. Whatever you want to do will – for the most part – be run online.

And more and more apps are moving online - consider Microsoft's Office Web Apps, which Google called a "killer app" for Chrome OS.

What happens if there’s no internet connection?

Don’t worry, it’s not entirely a high-tech paperweight. Many web apps can be used offline, and as HTML 5 spreads, that will be more commonplace.

There are a few OS-based apps, including a small notepad application, which automatically syncs up to Google Docs when there is a connection. And, you can always plug in a film to watch if you’re bored. There's also an e-book reader, which could read from a USB, for example.

But the machine will lose a lot of its functionality if there’s no connection. Google argued this is true of most computers anyway, as the main use we have for them is connecting to the internet.

What about data? Does it go live in the cloud too?

The netbooks will have limited ability to save data, and all will only have solid state drives, which tend to be smaller.

So the bulk of your data will go up in the cloud, too.

However, this isn’t meant to be where you stash every piece of digital data about yourself. Chrome devices are meant to be complementary to a main machine, Google said.

So your photo and file collection can still live on a standard hard disk at home, while you update your Facebook or Flickr accounts on the go with your Chrome device. That’s the idea, anyway.

Is it secure?

Google says so, but then it would. GMail has suffered reliability issues, as has Microsoft with its cloud service for Sidekick users.

Google is promising the system as a whole will be more secure than a standard OS, too. Every time you boot it up, the system checks for security flaws. If there is one, it scraps the OS and re-downloads it for installation - magically keeping all your settings and bits of data.

And, because you're only using web apps, there's no trouble with using updated versions, as you're always accessing the most recent version online.

Will I be able to buy any old netbook to run Chrome on?

No, Google is working with hardware providers to create Chrome specific devices, which is really the only way you’ll get to use the system.

They will be netbooks, of a sort. But Google wants a bigger, easier to use keyboard and trackpad, as well as higher resolution screens – sort of like a clamshell notebook.

The devices will be available by the end of next year, and Google said pricing would be inline with what we’re all currently paying for netbooks, whatever that means.

In theory, after Google cracks the netbook market, it could look to notebooks and desktops, but the system seems less useful for such devices.

But can I try the system out now?

Why, yes, you can. It's an early, early build, but it does work. You can download it and have a play around with it, either by installing it on a netbook or by running it in a virtual machine.

Cool. Should Microsoft be crying in fear?

Not in the short term, no. Google stressed that - at the moment - that Chrome devices will be a secondary device, so you'll still need a computer running a standard OS.

Longer term, Google is clearly looking to encourage us to move more and more of our data online, to its own services, changing the way personal computing works. Should it be successful with that, Microsoft might have cause for concern.