Google Fuchsia is an operating system that has been long-in-development.
Fuchsia, which has its name borrowed from a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees, takes an object-oriented, microkernel approach. Unlike Chrome and Android that are based on the Linux kernel, Fuchsia uses Zircon.
Built from scratch, the open-source project was first introduced back in 2016. When it was first announced, Fuchsia generated a huge noise in the open-source ecosystem. But because its development is mostly quiet, it never really made big headlines.
After many years of development, Google finally released the operating system to the public, by launching it first on the first-generation of Google News Hub, in order to replace the device's Cast OS, which is Google's Chromecast-based software.
The update does not change Nest's user-facing interface. This happens because Google’s smart display experience is built with Flutter, which is designed to consistently bring apps to multiple platforms, Fuchsia included.
However, Fuchsia has everything it needs to run as a proper operating system.
For example, using Zircon that is written mostly using C++ programming language, Fuchsia is a kernel that packs a set of user services, drivers, and libraries which are all necessary for the system to boot, communicate with the hardware, and load the user processes.
At the moment of its launch, Fuchsia is already packed with features that include handling of threads, virtual memory, processes intercommunication, and waiting for changes in the state of objects.
It should be noted that Fuchsia is a complete operating system, and designed to be capable of powering both desktops and smartphones that run "on modern 64-bit Intel and ARM processors."
What's more, Fuchsia can even natively run Android apps.
Google in introducing Fuchsia, initially to its smart hone device, is just the starting point for the operating system.
This is why Google is still cautious with the rollout, knowing that switching the operating system of a device is never a simple update, even for the tech giant.