Go check it out, you can read more about it at basilapps.com or on the iTunes store.

Don’t worry. I’ll still remember all the old friends when I’m sipping Crystal on my yacht.

Here’s a demo of the OS:

The key here is that this OS is a differentiator in a pretty homogenous market. Pop Quiz: Who makes the best laptops, Sony, HP or Dell? Trick question, nobody gives a fuck because they all run the same shitty operating system.

To quote Gruber (emphasis mine):

Apple’s ability to produce innovative hardware is inextricably intertwined with its ability to produce innovative software. The iPhone is an even better example than the Mac. It’s not just that Apple is different among computer makers. It’s that Apple is the only one that even can be different, because it’s the only one that has its own OS. Part of the industry-wide herd mentality is an assumption that no one else can make a computer OS — that anyone can make a computer but only Microsoft can make an OS. It should be embarrassing to companies like Dell and Sony, with deep pockets and strong brand names, that they’re stuck selling computers with the same copy of Windows installed as the no-name brands.

There is the key. As much as folks talk about Apple’s sexy packaging, ask most Mac users and they would almost entirely rather use OS X on a cheap laptop than Windows XP on a fancy laptop. Google OS is offering manufacturers the opportunity to differentiate themselves, stand out from the crowd.

One caveat. Chrome OS is open source, which means that computer manufacturers can (and will) put their own special brand of turd cream on this OS. Just because HP releases a Chrome netbook does not mean that they didn’t foul up the OS so much that it’s borderline unusable.

The point being that much of what gets chalked up as devotion to/obsession with Apple is, in fact, devotion to/obsession with great design, and there’s an utter dearth of rival PC or handheld gadget makers that value design as Apple does.

I think the Palm Pré and Windows 7 both look great^*. I don’t hate Microsoft, I hate poorly designed shit… and Microsoft makes a lot of poorly designed shit.

FYI, Stephen Fry’s post is worth reading, too.