Google rides Chrome OS onto Microsoft turf

19.11.2009
With Google Inc. working on its upcoming browser-based Chrome operating system, the company is intensifying its grudge match with rival Microsoft Corp.

If , which is expected to be on the market in about a year, catches some momentum, it won't just propel the company into a new market, it also will give Google Apps a boost against Microsoft's ubiquitous Office software. It will also give Google one more avenue into the enterprise, which has always been Microsoft's lofty domain.

"This really is a for Google and Microsoft," said Jim McGregor, an analyst with In-Stat. "It is a fight between business models for software, applications, advertising and the Internet. I think this battle will eventually benefit everyone because it is pushing the boundaries of technology and business."

Google that it is releasing its , including the code base, user interface experiments and some initial designs for ongoing development.

"First, it's all about the Web," wrote Caesar Sengupta, a Google group product manager, and Matt Papakipos, an engineering director, in a . "All apps are Web apps. The entire experience takes place within the browser and there are no conventional desktop applications. This means users do not have to deal with installing, managing and updating programs."

For Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research, Inc., Chrome OS reflects the ascendancy of the Web and the browser. Both the buildup of the Web and the upcoming release of the new operating system will pool to give Google even more power and industry position than it has today, he said.