Google launching its own operating system – Chrome OS

google-chrome-logoGoogle has taken the much rumored step of creating its own OS. Named Chrome after the browser of the same name, this new OS will have a windowing environment based on a Linux kernel (of course) and will naturally contain the Chrome browser as its browser-of-choice.

Google expects Google Chrome Operating System to be available in netbooks in the first half of 2010, and has been working with OEMs to make this a reality. This OS is really meant for those users who use computers mainly to access and use Web applications – e-mail, documents, social networking, shopping, etc. You probably won’t find too many power users switching to this OS, although it’ll be fine if it was on the family room netbook.

Is Microsoft worried? You bet they are, and if not, they should be. The scarier thing is that Google probably isn’t even doing this to ‘compete’ with Microsoft per se. They just want to get the Web in front of as many people as possible, because that means more people viewing and potentially clicking on their ads. This is not a direct revenue maker for Google, but would result in a revenue losses for Microsoft.

And if Google succeeds in creating an OS that is faster, more lightweight, more secure (with few or no bugs, viruses and malware), than current MS platforms then more people (and developers) will gravitate towards the OS.

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