Google has announced Chrome OS, an operating system that will give netbooks and full-size desktops alike with its well-known speediness. The OS will be compatible with x86, meaning Intel Atom and ARM Chips will be compatible.

With its main intention for use on netbooks and low cost portable PCs. The move is likely to sharpen the already intense competition between Google and Microsoft, whose Windows operating system controls the basic functions of the vast majority of personal computers.

While Google Chrome OS is aimed initially at netbooks, Google said it believed the software would be able to power full-fledged PCs. This adds a slight confusion to us as Google has already developed the Android open-source operating system that is used in some mobile phones and also netbooks by several manufacturers.

Multiple OEM manufacturers have already jumped onboard it seems, and are prepping a netbook Chrome OS marriage sometime in the second half of 2010. As our friends at ElectricPig have mentioned, Google has had enough of browser wars, they’re now attacking from the core – Windows OS is Microsoft’s home turf.

[via Official Google Blog]