A major clash is shaping up on the battlefield called netbooks, the compact, stripped-down, lower priced portable computers that are thriving while larger PCs falter. The combatants are Google and Microsoft, and the prize is dominance over the consumer’s choice of operating systems.

It will truly be a clash of titans. Microsoft sits like a Goliath on the throne, but none too securely as Google seeks to unseat Windows. Google’s Web browser strategy (which they dub “cloud computing”) has caught Microsoft flat-footed in a number of skirmishes but this is nothing less than full-out war because it determines which operating system businesses will choose. So, if you have a storm cellar, proceed to it and stay there until you hear the all-clear.

Google’s weapon of choice is called the Chrome Operating System, and two of the company’s executives posted a statement on the company’s blog characterizing Chrome’s virtues as “Speed, simplicity and security,” according to Miguel Helft and Ashlee Vance of the New York Times. “Google released Chrome last year, describing it as not only a Web browser but also a tool to let users interact with powerful Web programs like Gmail, Google Docs and online applications created by other companies.”

An open-source license a la Linux (or Google’s own Android) will enable outside programmers to work their ideas into the OS.

“To combat these efforts,” the Times writers point out, “Microsoft began offering its older Windows XP operating system for use on netbooks at a low price. In addition, the company has vowed that its upcoming Windows 7 software, due out this fall, will run well on the tiny laptops, which have stood out as the brightest part of the PC market during the global economic downturn. Microsoft’s current Vista operating system is designed for more powerful machines.”

Here’s the full story: Google Plans a PC Operating System.

Richard Curtis
Every blogger owes a debt of gratitude to newspapers and magazines. This posting relies on original research and reporting performed by New York Times.