And that would only help the company in its ongoing battle with Microsoft.

The two companies have been locking horns this year over and their . It's a war between the longtime software monolith and the new Internet-based giant on the block.

Now, Google appears to be setting its sights on taking a chunk out of Microsoft's operating system market share. With many users viewing their computers as simply a way to get on to the Internet, a browser-based OS could be a good step into that arena for Google.

"For most people most of the time, the PC is just a Web player," Gottheil added. "Google is leveraging its Web expertise to strip away a lot of the stuff that people don't use as much any more, and delivering an OS optimized for the Web... This makes business sense for Google. Getting in Microsoft's grill is just gravy."

Analysts also noted that users running the Chrome OS are likely to use Google Apps, such as Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs, along with it. That means pushing out the new OS could bolster sales of Google's office-based applications as the company drive into other Microsoft territory.