Google announced that it is developing an OS-the Google Chrome Operating System.Google Chrome OS will initially be targeted at netbooks,but will eventually be used on PCs as well.The Search giant says that it's a natural extension of the Google Chrome Browser. "Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS" said the blog post written by Sundar Pichai on Google Blog."Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010,"he added.What is even more interesting is that this announcement has come off just months before Microsoft launches the latest version of its OS -Windows 7.

Will Chrome OS stand out to strike at the heart of Microsoft's software empire??

"We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you on to the web in a few seconds," said the blog post written by Sundar Pichai, vice-president of product management, and Google's engineering director Linus Upson.Both men said that "the operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web" and that this OS was "our attempt to rethink what operating systems should be".

“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. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies.”

The announcement could dramatically change the market share of the operating systems,challenging Microsoft's major pie in the OS market.The situation may be similar to the 'browser war' of the 90's.It seems Google wants to systematically eliminate or reduce the Microsoft's dominance in the OS market.

The big question is, will it stand out to the test of time?

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As a regular Gmail user,you might have wondered why Gmail is still with its Beta tag for so long.It's more than five years Gmail has worn the beta tag.Often this was ridiculed and even of jokes.The search giant has long argued that their applications are kept in the beta status for so long to reflect the amount of testing that needs to be performed.

However,with a view to appealing its business customers Google has dropped the beta name for Google Apps."The end result (many visible and invisible changes later) is that today, beta is a thing of the past. Not just for Gmail, but for all of Google Apps — Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and Talk." said Gmail product director Keith Coleman in a blog post.

"Since the beginning of the year, we've focused on making it as easy as possible for large enterprises to switch to Google," said Google Apps senior product manager Rajen Sheth in another blog post.

For those long-time Gmail users who are feeling hard to get used to using Gmail without that familiar grey "BETA" text greeting,you can still get the beta look.Just go to Settings, click on Labs tab, turn on "Back to Beta," and it'll be like Gmail never left beta at all.


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