In contrast to Google's Linux-based operating systems such as ChromeOS and Android, Fuchsia is based on a custom kernel named Zircon.

After years of development, its official product launch was in 2021 on the first-generation Google Nest Hub, replacing its original Linux-based Cast OS.

In August 2016, media outlets reported on a mysterious source code repository published on GitHub, revealing that Google was developing a new operating system named Fuchsia.

Its architecture differs entirely from the Linux-based Android and ChromeOS due in part to its unique Zircon kernel, formerly named Magenta.

[21][22] This was implemented successfully by Ars Technica, where experts were impressed with the progress, noting that things were then working, and were especially pleased by the hardware support and multiple mouse pointers.

[26] Hiroshi Lockheimer, Senior Vice President of Chrome and Android, described it as one of Google's experiments around new operating system concepts.

Escher is the Vulkan-based graphics rendering engine, with specific support for "volumetric soft shadows", an element that Ars Technica wrote, "seems custom-built to run Google's shadow-heavy 'Material Design' interface guidelines".

[35] The Flutter cross-platform software development kit allows users to install parts of Fuchsia on Android devices.

[36] LK was born out of @tkgeisel getting sick of writing the same mini-OS for bootloaders or test firmware again and again so he took some time off between jobs and did an open source version of the concept.