Fuchsia is a operating system currently being developed by Google. Project appeared on GitHub in August 2016 without any official announcement and it looks totally different than any other mobile operating system we have seen. Android and Chrome OS it’s based on Linux.
Fuchsia is based on a new Google-developed kernel called Magenta (new name Zircon). According to Google, Magenta is aimed at modern phones and modern personal computers, so it wouldn’t be surprising to one day see Fuchsia appear on our smartphones.
Fuchsia is still deep in early development, and don’t be surprised if some of these details change over time. According to Bloomberg’s report moving away from Android and Chrome could carry other risks for Google. A huge contingent of independent developers and device makers, such as Samsung, Huawei and LG, rely on the operating system. Chrome OS is also important software that runs web-based laptops used by many schools and other organizations. Google can’t simply stop supporting Android and Chrome OS and expect this huge ecosystem to move to Fuchsia quickly.
Another risk comes from the foundation of the new operating system. Android and Chrome OS are built on Linux. The “Linux kernel” is the core of Google’s current operating systems, handling instructions zipping between the hardware and software of smartphones and other devices. Fuchsia uses a different kernel, called Zircon, that eschews many of the older technologies in Linux. This could make some existing devices incompatible.
Google has told that there isn’t a five-year plan for Fuchsia. They described the OS as one of many experimental open-source projects happening at Google but that doesn’t mean it won’t appear in five-ish years.