Google Chromebooks coming to the UK

Chrome OS notebooks from Samsung and Acer will ship on 15 June

Google has said today that Chrome OS will be installed on netbooks, to be launched in the UK next month, in a move that sees Google attempting to dent Microsoft's dominance in the PC operating system market.

Google has been developing its operating system for PCs for the past two years and has now announced that the first Chromebook units - made by Samsung and Acer - will be launched in the UK, as well as the US, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain on 15 June.

Samsung's offering is a 12.1in notebook starting at $429 (£264), while Acer's is an 11.6in notebook, priced from $349, with optional hardware upgrades.

Google claims that Chromebooks will be an enticing prospect to enterprises because of their low price and the speed of the operating system. It said that Chromebook devices can boot and allow users to begin browsing "within seconds".

Google will also release automatic updates to the software every six weeks, claiming the OS will become faster and more sophisticated over time.

The firm also announced Chromebooks for Business and Education - a pay-monthly service that will lease Chromebooks and a cloud management console to remotely administer and manage users, devices, applications and policies. The service will also include enterprise-level support, device warranties and replacements, as well as regular hardware refreshes.

Google said that monthly subscriptions will start at $28 (£17) per user for businesses and $20/user for schools.