The inevitable has happened. Google has announced its intent to launch an operating system. Named as the Google Chrome OS, the operating system would be an open source system, initially targeted at netbooks. Speed, simplicity and security (all three features which lack in windows) will be the USPs of the new operating system. According to the announcement, the OS will have a minimalist interface (something which is very typical of Google). To start with the OS will be targeted towards users who spend a lot of time on the internet. Considering that their business is mostly limited to the internet, it is difficult to say whether a full fledged version of the OS is being planned of or not.

It long been an almost monopoly for Microsoft (~90% market share), and it is good to see some serious competition coming. If Chrome OS is able to break Microsoft’s monopoly in Operating Systems, and parallely Microsoft’s Bing is able to break Google’s monopoly in internet search (the first version is quite good and already they have some managed to get some loyal followers, although I believe that it will take time and a few more versions to be a credible threat), we will have a more democratic cyberspace.

No matter who wins, the user experience for both internet search and Operating systems is going to improve (Windows will definitely strike back by an improved and, hopefully, light and more affordable version of its operating system, and Google will also come up with extra features to counter Bing’s challenge). Looking forward for the interesting times ahead!

Good Luck Google! Good Luck Microsoft!