ComputerWorld's Randall Kennedy is pretty down on ChromeOS as a solution, and it sounds to me like he's right:

Don't forget that Google's plans for acceptable hardware to run the Chrome OS is very limiting. No hard drives or even DVD drives; only solid state drives. That may reduce power usage and speed up boot time (as if that was really an issue), but it also means you can't run your own apps, or store and access data, when you don't have a live Internet connection. Plus, the supported laptops are only netbook-size laptops, with low-power CPUs that won't be all that capable. Sure, Google says you can use a PC or Mac for that stuff, and Google is right: You will. Why you would want a Web-only appliance as well is not so easy to answer.

Seriously, if I were in the market for a netbook, why would I get one of these instead of one running full Linux or XP (or Windows 7?). The price differential will be close to non-existent, while the functionality gap will be enormous. Google has built a solution that's desperately in search of a problem....

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