Google is releasing a new operating system called Chrome OS and will be available in the second half of 2010. Google has stated that Chrome OS, which is said to combine the Linux kernel with Google’s Chrome browser, will support both x86 and ARM architectures. Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. It is a very small, simple, and extremely fast operating system designed heavily for web surfers. Speaking with CNET News , Bill Gates more or less described Chrome OS as just another Linux distribution, saying that “there’s many,…

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In a direct challenge to Microsoft, Google announced late Tuesday that it is developing an operating system for PCs that is tied to its Chrome Web browser.
The software, called the Google Chrome Operating System, is initially intended for use in the tiny, low-cost portable computers known as netbooks, which have been selling quickly even as demand for other PCs has plummeted. Google said it believed the software would also be able to power full-fledged PCs.
The move is likely to sharpen the already intense competition between Google and Microsoft, whose Windows operating system controls the basic functions of…