Google’s vice president, Sundar Pichai has confirmed that we’ll see an official release for Chrome OS before the end of this year, saying that we can expect to see it release in the fourth quarter of this year.

There had been doubts expressed about just when we’d see Google’s upcoming, browser-focussed operating system launched, because of the lack of official word from Google on the release. Now though, it seems that Google has taken time at Computex[http://www.computex.biz/Computex2010_en/TopNews_Detail.aspx?index=34236] to talk about its web based OS and confirmed that we’ll see devices running Chrome OS by the end of this year, which falls into line with what Acer had been saying with regards to its Chrome OS-based devices.

Of course, since Google first showed off Chrome OS, there’s been something of an explosion in its other lightweight OS, with the largely smartphone-bound mobile operating system, Android. With Android growing, and the rapid development of apps for the platform, Chrome OS becomes that little bit less attractive, especially in the netbook market, where users have had a chance to get used to the idea of installing apps.

That said, Google’s recent announcement of a Chrome store for web-based applications, which would see users apps synced across multiple compatible devices. If nothing else, that much is interesting news. Whether or not it will be enough to lure users towards Chrome OS over Android and other similar options, we’ll have to wait and see, but it seems very much as though Google could end up cannibalising its own lightweight OS either way, but it’s very curious.