Google’s play at the laptop market with its Chromebook lineup has worked out pretty well so far, but the company may be preparing to take Chrome OS to the next level with an upcoming update. References to a new Athena window manager spotted on the Chromium issue site suggests Google could be preparing to unveil a touch-friendly version of its Chrome-based operating system. Athena would replace Ash, the two-year old Chrome OS windows manager, which works well enough on regular laptops but isn’t really optimized for touchscreen devices. Based on a handful of clues spotted by GigaOm, the next version of Chrome OS could include a card-based interface like Google Now, a new home screen called Ares, and a Surface-style split screen mode called “overview.”
Based on the open source Chromium project that Google bases its Chrome OS platform on, it appears that a new project is underway to radically change the user interface of Chrome OS devices. Details are scarce and Google hasn’t announced any such changes, but there are dozens of code references in the Chromium issue tracker pointing to something called Project Athena. From what I can piece together, Athena will alter the way users interact with windows and apps in Chrome OS, adding more touch-friendly capabilities. While Athena could lead to a Chrome OS tablet, or even a phone, it’s possible Google is simply reworking the front face of Chrome OS for touchscreen laptops. At this point, it’s far too soon to say. I first heard of the Athena code references on Google+ from Brandon Lall, who shared a few specific URLs pointing to the Chromium issues site with regards to Athena. From there, I found several other related Athena issues being worked on.
