Chrome OS first debuted in 2009 as an network based operating system that is tightly coupled with Google’s online services. With Chrome OS, users need to always be connected to the Internet and access application by way of the Chrome browser that is the cornerstone of the operating system.

Google’s Chrome is now the most popular Web browser worldwide, surpassing Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for the first time, according to the latest figures from StatCounter. After years of slowly chipping away Internet Explorer’s market share, Chrome took the lead with 32.76 percent share, while IE dipped to 31.94 percent.

The mobile web is in its infancy, according to Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Chrome and Apps at Google, adding that this market will flourish over the next three to five years.

For critics who would ask what is there left to innovate with a browser, Pichai retorted that even though browsers have been around for 15 years, if you make the experience better, people will respond.

There are roughly 200 million Chrome users worldwide, and while Chrome is primarily a desktop experience as part of Google’s dual strategy (Chrome and Android), it’s starting to make its way on to mobile devices.

Last week, Google released a beta version of Chrome for Android for mobile devices running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).

Pichai noted that the “future of Chrome” is pushing the platform across smartphones and tablets. Part of the motivation for pushing Chrome to tablets, in particular, is how much more people use the browser on these devices.