Google Launches Web-Based OS, Takes Aim at Windows

Google has doubled down in its battle with Microsoft. The search giant announced it is bringing out an open-source operating system, named Google Chrome OS, that looks to go head-to-head with long-dominant Windows. Chrome OS is Google's biggest push yet onto traditional Microsoft turf, reports the Financial Times, following free web-based applications, mobile phone platforms, and email.

According to Nick Mediati of PC World, Chrome OS is an outgrowth of Google's lightweight web browser and is designed to boot in "a few seconds," far faster than Microsoft's snail-paced Vista. Third-party apps for Chrome OS will also work on Windows, Mac, and Linux machines, since the Google system is essentially a web-based platform. The new system won't launch until next year, but Mediati wonders if Google hasn't "just killed the operating system war." (More Google Chrome stories.)