The first shot in the Google Microsoft OS war has been fired. Looking at Google’s initial plans and ideas for implementation of the new OS, it’s pretty clear that it will be years before Google’s new open source OS is anywhere near a Microsoft competitor. But this announcement is clearly a shot across the bow of Microsoft, letting them know that change is coming. For years Microsoft has been sitting comfortably with its leading desktop market share. This isn’t just a Microsoft problem however. Sure, all OS developers both open source and proprietary have been bringing innovative ideas to computer users for years. Google, however, is looking to the future beyond the immediate future and planning to bring application development to the web where it dominates.

Google’s new Chrome OS will run on a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. What they are hoping that will mean is a fast, lightweight environment with minimal user interface bloat to help with start up speeds and application launches. A big problem faced by today’s desktop developers as they try to balance speed with usability. The plan is to develop native web-based application support so that existing web apps will work automatically. Moving the development platform to the web and allowing programmers to write apps in their favorite web technology of choice.
The first programming languages the geeks of tomorrow learn in school today are usually web based. So this will position Google’s OS nicely for favoritism from the up and coming programmers who are already familiar with web development. And of course these applications will still run on any Windows, Mac, or Linux based operating system that has a browser — because it’s web based.
The new OS will focus entirely on the web: “The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform.” What that means is this. The browser is the platform. The browser is the UI. The interesting bits of this OS :

• – Open Source
• – Linux based
• – Free of cost
• – Working with various partners for bundling
• – Designed for Google Crome Browser

Expressing a similar opinion about the future prospects of the Chrome OS, Sebastien de Halleux – cofounder and COO of the social gaming developer Playfish – said: “The world is hungry for innovation on the operating system. This is coming at the right time!”