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The demonstration could dramatically change the market for operating systems, especially for Microsoft, the biggest player with about 90% share of the market.
When it was first announced, Rob Enderle, industry watcher and president of the Enderle Group, described it as “the first real attempt by anyone to go after Microsoft”.
The fact that it is free could encourage many users to try the system.
Currently, Mr Pichai said the company did not have a business plan but admitted that encouraging people to use the web and Google services “benefits us as a company”.
Google derives most of its revenue from selling advertising around search and its other online products.
Most consumers will have to wait until 2010 to get their hands on a device running the system.
However, the firm used the event to release an early version of the code for developers.
“You can get Chrome OS up and running today,” said Mr Pichai.
They said they had chosen to release the code and the designs for the system because it was based on a variety of existing open source projects such as the Linux and Ubuntu operating systems.
Open source systems allow people to tinker and use the underlying code to build and customize applications. It is normal to publish any modifications to allow other people to take advantage of the changes.
“We’re looking forward to feedback from the open source community,” said Mr Pinchai.
