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Google has announced that it is working on an operating system based on Google Chrome (their browser). The company says the project is an attempt to "re-think what operating systems should be."

The OS-in-progress is simply called Google Chrome OS,  it is open source, and it will initially be aimed at netbooks. The announcement came on the same day that Google dropped the "beta" tag from Google Apps.

"Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve," VP Product Management Sundar Pichai and Engineering Director Linus Upson say in a joint blog post.

Google says the key aspects of Chrome OS are:

- Speed
- Simplicity
- Security

"We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds," Pichai and Upson explain. "The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work."

The company has been making quite a big deal about speed lately, particularly on the web. Google recently launched a "let's make the web faster" campaign, calling on webmasters all over the web to help make their sites faster.

The Google Chrome OS code will be open sourced later this year, and Netbooks that have Chrome OS running on them will be available in the second half of 2010.

It's interesting to see Google finally go right at Microsoft's core business now that Microsoft has become so aggressive going at Google's. It looks like we may have some interesting times ahead.

Just because Chrome OS is starting on Netbooks, don't think it will end there. Google has already said that it was designed to power computers from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems.

If Google makes good on its promise of allowing users to get right to the web in seconds, the OS will likely be appealing to a lot of consumers who are used to Windows. The Google brand, which is already so powerful among consumers may be more appealing than other alternative operating systems (like Linux) to the average non-techie consumer.

As I said, interesting times are ahead. What are your thoughts on a Google OS for the PC? Discuss.