Are you already running Google Chrome OS?

There’s been a lot of discussion around the Web following Google’s announcement that it plans to introduce its own operating system, Google Chrome OS. It has thrown down a gauntlet to the three other main systems – Windows, Mac and Linux. Where Google plans to be completely different is that apart from a small system kernel (Linux-based), almost nothing will reside on your computer. Everything will be done in what has become known as “the cloud” – in other words, online. If the vision comes fully to pass, your computer will have no other software. All your documents will be stored online. No more buying Word, Excel, PhotoShop or anything else, or upgrading them at ridiculous prices every year or so. All those applications will be internet-based.
In fact, if you use Google Chrome and the web applications Google has already released, then you're effectively already running Google Chrome OS. Just maximize Google Chrome's window and imagine that each tab is an instance of an application. Gmail is your mail client, Google Calendar is the calendaring application, Google Docs is the office suite and the file explorer. Google Chrome's new tab page is the desktop, the dashboard that lists frequently used applications and lets you add widgets.
Besides those, there are hundreds if not thousands of other online applications, from image editing programs to media players (and not just YouTube).
By the time Chrome is released towards the end of next year, you will be so used to working in this way, you’ll barely notice the transition – or so they hope. The only two questions maybe left to ask: Do you trust the cloud to store all your critical data; and do you have adequate broadband at a reasonable price to cope with the traffic?