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After the release of source code for Google Chrome operating system to developers, the software giant, Microsoft's Windows 7 and Apple's Snow Leopard, who leads the operating systems market, had received reasons to respond for the growing competition from the search giant. However, Google will launch the stable release in the second half of 2010 for netbooks.

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Whereas, Windows 7 can handle designers' requirement and Apple's Snow Leopard can have an edge over other operating systems for handling daily routine works.

But, the question is who would win the ultimate war in the battle of OS domination? Windows 7 or Snow Leopard or Google Chrome OS?

User Interface

Microsoft Windows 7 comes with a renovated Windows Shell with a new taskbar, updated control panel interface, slideshow for the opened windows, start menu and window management enhancements and an advanced font management.

In Snow Leopard, users can view a subfolder via stacks without launching Finder, Dock icons will have new looks with semi-transparent charcoal background, higher-resolution iChat and display the windows of a single program via Exposé by left clicking and holding its icon in the dock. However, various analysts said that the Mac OS offers the best overall user experience, presently.

In the upcoming Google Chrome OS's UI, single tab strip combines apps and standard Web pages to save the space of screen. Various secondary tasks like chat and music players can be operated through 'panels.' It may also feature split screens for viewing two pieces of content side-by-side. The new software will also use HTML 5's offline modes, background processing, and notifications.

System Enhancements

Windows 7 supports the DirectX 11 version, multi-touch facility for Tablet PCs, WWAN and has enhanced security features. Also, the software features Office Open XML and ODF support in WordPad, Windows Media Player 12 and Windows XP Mode.

However, Snow Leopard features 64-bit support with enhanced performance via multiple processor cores and GPUs. It also supports new version of Quicktime, out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange and automatic updates for printer drivers.

The new Google Chrome OS based machines are strictly for cloud computing and they will be connected to the web via Wi-Fi and will play only web-based applications such as Google Docs, which the company approves. Also, all such apps will be stored in cloud not in users' netbook. Hence, you do not require much storage in your PC.

Boot time

Microsoft Windows 7 comes with faster boot time compared to Vista, and Apple's Snow Leopard also claims for quick boot time with upto 80% faster, saving precious time of users. However, in the early build of Google Chrome OS, it took as little as 7 seconds to reach a login screen, and then reached almost instantly into the browser.

Cost Factor

The Snow Leopard single user license will be available for about $29, whereas Windows 7 is available within a price range of $120 to $320. But, the Google Chrome OS is an open source software available for free.

Discussion

According to the Web metrics firm Net Applications, Microsoft Windows 7's market share in first three weeks was more than what Vista had achieved in five months. Now, Windows 7 passed the 5% market share milestone, which is more than the total market share of all versions of Apple's Mac OS X.

Recently, Microsoft has announced that it will close down the support for Windows XP SP2, which suggests that the company wants to convert XP users into the new Win7 buyers. Various analysts predict that there is a huge tail of XP in the market and Windows 7 is the great opportunity for all those people who declined to move to Vista. Therefore, the recent move from software giant will certainly toughened the competition for new comers.