Google’s lightweight, Linux-based, cloud-powered Chrome OS is set for its consumer debut on a Samsung netbook in the next few days. Google I/O starts tomorrow, May 10, and Samsung — which has long been signed up as a Chrome OS launch partner — is hosting a mystery party just after Google I/O finishes. It’s likely that Google will demonstrate the latest version of Chrome OS at I/O, and then, at the party, Samsung will release the first publicly-available Chrome OS netbook.

The question on everyone’s lips is whether Chrome OS is actually ready for primetime. The browser-based web-apps-only operating system, which was only unveiled two years ago, has already missed its initial launch window of late 2010 — and it would be fair to say that the prototype Cr-48 Chrome OS netbook has not exactly received rave reviews. Google has let Chrome OS tactfully slip from the limelight in recent months, but it has been busy behind the scenes, fixing bugs and polishing the product until it shines. We can tell you now that Chrome OS definitely looks and feels like it’s ready for release.

It’s important to remember that Chrome OS is fundamentally a custom build of Gentoo Linux that uses the Chrome web browser as a window manager — nothing more, nothing less. Chrome OS has all of Chrome’s features, including themes and extensions, plus a few custom plug-ins for handling music, video, and photos. Basically, Chrome OS is the marriage of the browser — which is one of the biggest, fastest-moving, and most successful projects at Google — with Linux underpinnings. Chrome OS is just a vehicle to get Google’s browser — and thus Google’s services — onto low-power Atom and ARM devices.

Which, curiously enough, is also the purpose of Android. Chrome OS was initially conceived before Android took off, back when netbooks looked like the next big thing. 2010 was a truly insane year for Android, and Chrome OS understandably fell by the wayside. It quickly became clear that Chrome OS no longer had a clearly-defined role in the Google ecosystem, and that led to dillydallying between x86 and ARM, a lot of uncertainty about whether it would be a netbook or touchscreen device OS, and an uncomfortable coexistence with Android. Resources have been ploughed into Android, but Chrome OS has mostly limped along, waiting for a day in the spotlight that will probably never come.

The fact is, Google doesn’t seem to have a plan for Chrome OS. Google knows that it has an awesome browser, and that it needs people to use its web services — but beyond that, it’s just a matter of keeping a finger in as many pies as possible and waiting for one of them to heat up. Chrome OS really is the Chrome browser — and while Chrome has some awesome web app-oriented features, like hardware acceleration, Cloud Print, and Native Client, you don’t need Chrome OS to use them. Chrome OS, put simply, is a Web Surfer Delivery Device; Google has spotted a niche that wasn’t using its services enough — low-power portables — and plans to plug that hole with Chrome OS. There really is no compelling reason to use Chrome OS if you currently own a computer with a real CPU.

It’s hard to get excited about an operating system that’s just a web browser. Perhaps in the future, when operating systems become defunct, and HTML5 takes flight and web apps rule supreme, Chrome OS might be exciting — but until then, Chrome OS is simply about making the Chrome browser available on cheap, portable computers. Google will release Chrome OS tomorrow, and Samsung will probably release a very sexy Chrome OS laptop the day after — but don’t be suckered in. Just buy a normal laptop with a real CPU, and run the Chrome browser. You’ll have access to all the same features, and you won’t be limited to a small library of nascent and underwhelming web apps.