Google Wednesday didn't reveal many specifics about its Chrome operating system project, but a technology the company introduced late last year could provide a preview of what is to come.
Google Native Client was released by Google engineers in December as a research project under an open-source software license. Last month, Google began upgrading the project to a development platform.
Native Client is designed to help developers create Web programs that can take advantage of local processing power such as that offered on the netbook platform Google is targeting with Chrome OS. Web-based applications using the Native Client technology would run faster and behave more like desktop applications.
As described by Google, the Chrome OS is a lightweight, Linux-based operating system that boots up quickly and gets users on the Web in a few seconds.
Google said Wednesday, "most of the [Chrome] user experience takes place on the Web," which could be an indication that Native Client technology would be needed when the "user experience" is not executing on the Web.
In Wednesday's Chrome OS announcement, Google dropped numerous hints that link Native Client to the goals of the Chrome OS project, including security features, platform and browser support and auto-updating features.
Google says it plans to redesign the underlying security architecture of the OS so users won't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates.
Last month, Google's Brad Chen, engineering manager for Native Client, wrote on Google's Web site that the company would update Native Client to include Google Omaha, the company's automatic updating technology.
"Google's Omaha project is representative of the kind of auto-update support we think is appropriate for robust desktop infrastructure," Chen wrote.
Security has been a prime focus because it is Native Client's Achilles Heel. The technology's security works by examining software before it runs and comparing its intended procedures against a list of prohibited actions. If the software is allowed to run, it executes in a protected sandbox. The technique is referred to as static analysis.
"We recognized the underlying technology to be ambitious and risky, and felt strongly that a generous measure of public scrutiny was appropriate before we committed to any definite plans," Chen wrote.
As part of that effort, last week Google awarded cash prizes to two researchers as part of a bug hunt contest to help make the Native Client more secure.
Google said Wednesday that Web applications designed for the Chrome platform would run on Chrome OS and on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux. Native Client is designed to run on all three of those platforms. The software does not yet work with Microsoft's Internet Explorer, but runs on the Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera browsers.
Google's intention is to build the Native Client into the Chrome browser rather than offering it as a plug-in, which is the current delivery mechanism. The Chrome browser is part of the Chrome OS.
"We have a strong preference for delivering Native Client pre-installed or built into the browser, and we'll be focusing on that as our main strategy," Chen said in his post last month.
Experts say Google's Chrome OS would have to offer something unique beyond a quick boot up to the same old Web experience users can get with any OS and browser.
"If they come out with a Linux OS with a Chrome browser that is great but I don't know if that is enough of a differentiation," said Al Gillen, an analyst with IDC. He speculated that Google might do something that makes browser-based applications appear to run natively on the desktop. The Native Client appears to fit that bill.
Google's Native Client is not revolutionary on its face. Flash, JavaScript, and ActiveX offer Web-based applications access to limited amounts of local processing power. JavaScript is often attacked by Google over poor performance. Active X runs on Windows and Internet Explorer and has had numerous security issues.
Adobe has a similar research project to Chrome OS called Alchemy, which would allow Web application developers to reuse existing open source C and C++ client or server-side code on the Flash platform and Adobe Air.
Native Client isn't the only technology that appears to be part of Chrome OS. Google said it is working on a new "windowing system" that would allow users to switch between "applications" rather than browser tags. And the company is said to be working on slick UI features that redefine tasks such as file storage.
Also, it plans to support HTML 5, a specification that is being co-authored by Ian Hickson, one of Google's own engineers.
Follow John Fontana on Twitter: twitter.com/johnfontana
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