Google’s OS to Challenge Microsoft?

Google’s OS to Challenge Microsoft?

Googlers Sundar Pichai and Linus Upson announced on Wednesday that the company was embarking on a new project: the Google Chrome Operating System. After the Web browser launched last year, many people anticipated a Google OS as the company’s next move.
Google Chrome OS is open source and will initially be intended for netbooks; however, the system is said to be equipped to power large desktop systems as well. The three main aspects of the operating system are speed, simplicity, and security. Although Google will construct its own windowing system, the new OS will run on top of the kernel from the open source Linux OS.
According to the Google blog post making the announcement, the OS will not be available to consumers until the second half of 2010.
As Google prepares to enter the operating system market, many questions come to mind. First of all, is this a direct attack against Microsoft since Bing appears to be making legitimate progress? Will Google’s OS exist as a serious contender to the alternative operating systems? How will consumers and computer manufacturers react? Will Google be hit with more antitrust investigations?
Although there are many unanswered questions associated with this news, one thing that is certain is that Google has just taken on a challenging mission.
Google Chrome OS
We've been getting a number of questions in reference to our 'Introducing the Google Chrome OS' blog post, and so here are a number of your most frequently asked Qs – along with our As. We'll be sure to add more to this list as popular questions come in.
Is Google Chrome OS free?

Yes – Google Chrome OS is an open source project and will be available to use at no cost.
What companies is Google working with to support Google Chrome OS?
The Google Chrome OS team is currently working with a number of technology companies to design and build devices that deliver an extraordinary end user experience. Among others, these companies include Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba.
I'm a developer – how can I work with you?
Thanks for your interest. Later this year, the Google Chrome OS code will be open sourced. We're looking forward to working with the open source community and making our own small contribution to the great work being done out there. Please stay tuned.
Fake Chrome OS Screenshots Punk Tech Media

The video lists all of the sites that linked to it, and shows all of the diggs and tweets that got these fake screenshots a nice bit of attention. To be fair though, at least some of the publications/blogs that mentioned the screenshots were quick to acknowledge that they could indeed be fakes