Google's ahead in the cloud

There is perhaps no company more entrenched in the cloud than Google.

To prove that point, the search giant has created the first computer operating system that's entirely online, so your computer won't even work without a Web connection.

The operating system -- named Chrome after the company's popular Web browser -- replaces traditional standalone computer applications. Google is hoping to rival the hold of Microsoft's Windows and Apple's Mac more traditional operating systems.

It won't be made public until this summer, but Google has launched a pilot program, putting free netbooks -- an unbranded bare-bones laptop called the Cr-48 -- running the OS into the hands of a few thousand early testers.

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