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A USB drive containing a customized Linux distro will boot users into a Google branded environment, or so one web site claims. The next experiment out of Google Labs or merely wishful thinking from the anti-Microsoft crowd?

Could This Be The Google OS?

The Inquirer reckons people should be skeptical of the claims made on a Chinese web site, a translation of which shows screenshots of the purported Google operating system (WebProNews also provided coverage of the so-called "Google OS").

It's not an unprecedented concept. Realm Systems recently unveiled a USB drive containing a Linux server, complete with fingerprint identification. The BlackDog server runs Debian Linux and contains flash memory for storage. A Linux or Windows XP workstation and an open USB port would be all someone needs to use the system.

The alleged Google OS would allow its users to make use of hosted applications, like Gmail and Google Talk, instead of containing them on the 2 GB USB drive. A productivity suite would be needed; perhaps Google will use some of its new stock issue proceedings to buy ThinkFree, which makes an online application suite capable of saving documents in Microsoft formats. Google could use a calendar application as well. Not to mention a browser.

At one point when Netscape was the top browser, it was thought to be the gateway to commoditizing the desktop and making the underlying operating system irrelevant to the way people would work on a computer. Microsoft crushed Netscape out of existence and nearly got broken up by a federal court for doing so. Maybe Google could avoid that fate.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.