CP Comment: Google announces Chrome OS operating system

In a move that will be seen as a clear warning shot to Microsoft, Google has confirmed that it will be extending its Chrome brand – currently attached to its browser product – to Chrome OS. This will be a light operating system based around a Linux kernel, which Google will push with the aid of the open source community.

The key selling points of the operating system, which will be available free of charge, will be its speed and security. Google aims to produce a product that will leave users at a desktop screen in seconds, free to browse the web straight away. Development tools for Chrome OS will focus on using the web as a platform, and while the firm is looking for broad appeal for the operating system, it’s netbooks that are likely to be the first target.

The netbook market is one being keenly fought by Microsoft, which has clawed its way to market dominance in the sector courtesy of the Windows XP operating system rather than Vista. And the firm is looking for Windows 7 to be a more suitable platform for netbook products. Chrome OS will be a major, concentrated rival to Windows in the sector, and the challenge to Google will be to product an operating system that overcomes many of the traditional objections to Linux, thus keeping the command line out of view.

It could be the biggest shake up in the operating system market since Windows 95 first arrived, or could be something of a damp squib. The clear threat to the channel is that Windows, for all its ills, generates revenue, and Chrome OS will have no margins for resellers and distributors. Granted, it’ll allow for greater price flexibility in the desktop and portables market, but it’s not clear yet just how much of an advantage that will be.

Google has promised further details of Chrome OS towards the end of the year.