Chrome is, practically, a brilliant new operating system. It has a new permissions structure, built in malware protection, a compiler, a javascript virtual machine, a task manager, a rendering engine, a new process management system, local storage, and is wicked fast. This is the biggest technical jump in browser tech since mosaic.

You'd hear this much about a new windows or mac os, but it would mean far less. Chrome will open the way for web apps that are as good, as robust, and as beautiful as desktop apps. It's more than just hype.