Hey I agree with MTF too!! It's not smart people you need... you need to have dedication and a good plan to make your Operating System worth while. For example, maybe some features are like:

1. Free-to-use
2. Benefits of use
3. Open-source
4. Stuff that enpass the big operating systems out there

So simply, how can it be better than the big operating systems, like Windows and Linux? Mac?

But if Google doesn't want to do it, then that's fine Many times, though, I wonder how they get funded.

In order for Google to come up with an O/S that people would invest or download if it was free, would take a considerable amount of dedication and effort.

Google's somewhat relaxed and happy-go-lucky is a very hard 'business karma' to have, as businesses often come with stress and hard times. To get the team to go from being relaxed in their approach from designing web applications, and now desktop applications, to building an O/S would be a big step. It would almost ruin the karma of the company, and may prove to be a downfall, if they were to dedicate themselves to it.

However, if they were to maintain their approach and slowly, but surely, step on Microsoft's toes, I wouldn't be surprised if Google took over some smaller organisations, like the FreeBSD and accompanying Linux Kernel Platforms, and brought them under the wing of Google, to fight Microsoft's domineering power in the war of the O/S.

I think that in the near future, we may even see Google realising a shell to Microsoft Windows Vista, which puts the users into a flexible and more stable environment within Windows. I would also expect them to do this for Linux.

You are not going to spend any money on a stuff you don't know what it will give you; I understand that's what the poll results so far inidicates, and I agree, too.

A good question was asked earlier in this thread, as to how Google funds itself.
Free as it may appear to you, they must and are making every efforts to secure enough income, invisibly and/or indirectly.

Say there's a free-for-end-users OS; for example, it can have a forced advertisement show up every time you boot your machine, start an app, or simply just every XX seconds or minutes. They'll charge the advertiser instead of the end-user.

For me, it is hard to imagine Google is willing to develop just another head-to-head, apple-to-apple replacement to existing OS's, with the only difference being the way it is charged for.
I agree to twitch, Google may rather come up with a shell, plug-in, applications that will add-value to any existing platforms (which is basically an extention to what they do already today.)

Otherwise, Google may launch an appliance type of thing dedicated to the Internet based activities like web-surfing, e-mailing, instant messaging, etc.
If that's what you call an OS, why not?

i don't think it possible that google will make an OS .Google 's major is internet service,post an OS is no sense.

If - make that when - Google makes an OS, I'm definaely not getting it. They actually store all searches, and even emails in GMails that have been deleted. Call me a privacy freak, but I don't want Google or any government watching my web habits. A Chinese reporter was recently sentenced to ten years in prison for forwarding emails to an American site he got from Chinese government officials telling him not to say too much in an article about the fifteenth anniversary of the Tianamen Square Massacre, after Yahoo! handed over information about his web use to the government.

I don't think that they will create an OS, since their main goal is to provide better ways of getting information around the world. At least, that is what they stated
And an OS would'nt really help to get information around the globe... only around your own Harddrive . Sure, some parts of an OS could help to further move in the direction of creating good ways of trading information, but much of an OS is for working/gaming for yourself or maybe for your company (probably not the gaming part ). And I think that wouldn't be something for google...

I hope you can understand my opinion as i'm not that good at presenting my informations

The people of google are smart, and they're probably smart enough to write an OS, but it takes more then that to beat Microsoft. Firefox and Opera are lots and lots better then Internet Explorer. But why do 90% of the people using a computer still use IE? Because Microsoft got a monopoly position. The sell IE with every copy of Windows and only people who use computers much and realy see the differences are willing to download Firefox or Opera.
If Google would release there own OS and they could manage to sell it to many people maybe that would bring MS down, if nobody buy Windows anymore, there won't be much people buying other stuff from them too. If they do it right, they maybe kill Microsoft for ever. (computer independence day !!! )

-=jeroen=-

Google can make everything if they want and put time in it. Although I think they aren't gonna create a whole new engine, it will probably be based on an open source OS.

Hmm, do you really think that once (or IF) unix ever gets good enough for most people it will remain free???

No effing way!!!

I could quite reasonlby see a google operating system. but i think it would probably be a very unix like system or a linux distro packaged with some closed source google features.

correct me if im wrong but it would be fairly easy for google to make their own linux os [some people on this forum have/want to]. And then make a few programs and adapt ones they already own, intergrate these as closed source programs owned by them into their linux distro. they would create some kind of indexing search thing, intergrate gmail with the os, make their own simple browser with all google features built in, make picasia into a image and video browser/editor, etc.

i can see them doing this and then using their exceptionally famous name and trying to get a manufactuer onboard and providing a very google ready, cheap pc for anyone.

in my mind that could work, but im not sure if they are going to do it but all the hype recently about google surposedly announcing a pc then it not happening suggests they might be looking into that field.

i think google and linux, togeather or seperate, will continue to make a big difference to computing in the next few years, so who knows?