Samsung's latest Chromebook shows the future of Google's laptops - but it has a long way to go

Google has an operating system problem.

Namely, it has one too many: There's Chrome OS on its Chromebook sect of laptops, and Android on everything else. The latter is easily the more popular and successful of the two. However, it's awkward on larger laptop and tablet screens.

Chrome OS does not have that issue, but it's still, for the most part, an extension of the Chrome web browser. That means it is inherently limited in important areas, like gaming and offline functionality. It isn't very popular outside of schools because of that.

How does Google square this? By bringing the two spheres - apps and the web - together. Last spring, the company announced that it would make the Google Play Store, with its thousands of Android-based apps, compatible with Chrome OS.

Now, after several months of preparation, the company is ready to push that merger in earnest, with a set of laptops that are better positioned to take advantage of the mobile-friendly software. If all goes well, it could finally give inexpensive Windows laptops a genuine competitor.

One of the first results of this initiative come from Samsung, in the form of its Chromebook Plus and Chromebook Pro. The two are virtually identical, except the former runs on a weaker ARM processor and costs $450, while the latter runs on an Intel processor and costs $550. The Plus will also be available this week, while the Pro won't arrive until April.

I've been using a pre-production unit of the Pro for the past couple of weeks. While it's too soon to provide a full review - again, this is a pre-production unit - I can say two things: (1) It feels like a turning point for Chromebooks as a category, and (2) it's definitely not there yet.

Let's take a closer look: