@jskilnyk: Instability is the price you pay for being on the dev channel. The beta channel has been very, very solid, with few problems, about on a par with XP.
I have zero interest in gaming, so no loss there for me.
Re netbooks vs tablets, I want a real keyboard, not some damned virtual keyboard on a screen. If the retail Chrome OS portables come in at half the price of an iPad, with the same battery life, they have a chance.
For me, the biggest drawback of Chrome OS is also one of its potential strong points: You can't do much with/to it. Customization opportunities consist of changing the theme, installing extensions and "apps" (which rarely do more than web page links). As an incorrigible Linux tweaker, the lack of access frustrates me; on the other hand, after working in computer development/support for 30 years, I know that a huge portion of the people who use computers know next to nothing about them (and don't want to know anything about how they work), and just want something that works. There is a lot to be said for a secure operating system that requires essentially no maintenance, is unbreakable by the end user, and is immune to malware. Prior to Chrome OS, Apple's OS X came closest to delivering a computer as an appliance; Chrome OS is even farther along this continuum.
The game changing part of the Chrome net/notebook program may be the inclusion of 3G cellular by default. 3G is rarely a standard feature in portable computers, and even iPads cost more if you want 3G. I rarely use the 3G capability because I live where Wi-Fi is nearly ubiquitous, but when I am out in the boonies, the 3G capability is a lifesaver, and for me, the basic 100mb/month data plan has been just right.