I'm a PC and I'm a Chrome .... Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt,left,jokes with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates at the annual Allen& Co.'s media summit in Sun Valley,Idaho.Credit:AP
An operating system is the set of programs that makes a computer act as it does:the same computer can run Windows,Apple's Mac OS X or the free Linux operating system. Each computer will then behave differently,but connecting to the internet is key for all. So even if Google's dramatic attack fails,it still wins.
The reason is its dominant position as a search engine and in selling adverts against search and web pages,which is how it makes money. As Nick Carr,an author and journalist who has studied Google,said:"For Google,literally everything that happens on the internet complements its main business. The more things people and companies do online,the more ads they see and the more money Google makes."
Chrome OS will be based around the Linux operating system. If a significant share of the market moves to Chrome OS,Microsoft will lose the Windows revenue and revenue from its Office products,which won't run on Linux. That could slowly bleed the giant to death.
Not everyone is convinced Google will succeed,however. Michael Gartenberg,a consumer devices analyst at Interpret in Los Angeles,was unimpressed."Folks who have never seen it,used it or spent five minutes with it are claiming it is a huge threat to Windows,"he said.
It may in fact be the rival Apple that determines whether Chrome OS succeeds. Its iTunes music program is installed on around 100 million computers. If Google can persuade Apple to provide a version that runs on Linux,people may move over to Chrome OS. Otherwise,leaving behind their music collections might prove too much.
Still,Google has a good chance of getting a hearing. Eric Schmidt,its chief executive,is on Apple's board.
Guardian News&Media