Google Chrome to take on Windows
Updated on 08 July 2009
The expanding Google brand is going into direct competition with Microsoft with its Chrome operating system designed for mini-laptop PCs.
The Chrome operating system will be available for netbook computers in late 2010 and Google is in talks with several manufacturers who could use the software as a replacement for the existing Microsoft systems they currently install.
Google has already developed e-mail and internet applications that are in direct competition with Microsoft's software, but up to now Microsoft has been able to rely on a steady stream of income because their operating systems are used by the majority of PCs.
Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group, said: "This could be very disruptive. If they can execute, Microsoft is vulnerable to an attack like this, and they know it."
Google believe the Chrome system will speed up internet access and it is likely to work well with the existing Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Maps software.
Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management at Google, said:
"The operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web. Chrome is our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be."
He also confirmed the system has the potential to be developed further to run larger PCs.
Google did not say how much it would charge for the operating system, but Enderle expects them to charge at most a nominal fee or make it free because the company's business model has been to earn revenue from connecting applications or advertising.
Microsoft does not reveal how much it charges PC brands for Windows, but most analysts estimate about £12 per installation for the older XP system and at least £93 for the current Vista system.
