GOOGLE INC is planning a direct attack on Microsoft Corp’s core business by taking on the software giant’s globally dominant Windows operating system for personal computers. The new system will initally be targeted at netbooks.
Called the Google Chrome Operating System, the new software will be in netbooks in the second half of 2010, Google said in a blog post. Netbooks are low-cost notebook PCs optimised for Net surfing and other web-based applications.
Google and Microsoft have often locked horns in a variety of markets, from Internet search to mobile software. Microsoft Windows are currently installed in more than 90 per cent of PCs.

A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment.
The new system is expected to work well with many of Google’s popular software applications like Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Maps. Based on open-source Linux code, it will be fast and lightweight, enabling user to access the web in a few seconds.
The Chrome OS is “our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be,” Sundar Pichai, vice-president of product management of Google, said. It is designed to work with ARM and x86 chips, the main architectures in use.

Tags: google chrome operating system, google os