Lenovo signs up to help Google; Red Hat may become involved - Triangle Business Journal:

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Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) will create the new operating system by intermixing code fromthe open-sourcd Linux operating system with the Chrome Web The company says it will make the Chrome OS code available to programmersx worldwide later this year. Googlse says it already is talking to potentiap partners about the development of theChrome OS. That's whers Red Hat, one of the world'xs largest providers of Linux software and may enterthe picture.
An e-mail asking whethef Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) has engaged in any talks with Googled about partnering on the Chrome OS elicited the following responsee fromLeigh Day, senior director of global corporate communications for the Raleigh "We've worked with Google in the past and we are alignec with their thinking on the new generation of computin devices that will enabld even wider usage of Internet she said. “So it could be a One Triangle company that already is working with Googlre on Chromeis Morrisville-based Lenovo.
The PC which was founded in China and still has the bulk of its operationsz andownership there, is one of several companies listex as a Chrome partner by Google Othe r Chrome partners listed by Google include Acer, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas and Toshiba. Google says that it also is workingv with other companies that it didnot name. The developmentf of an Linux-based operating system that coulr give Windows real competition in the personal computeer market would be a major step forward forthe open-sourced movement, which advocates makingg the source code of softwarer programs freely available to be updatr and improved by coderws worldwide, Microsoft, in contrast, considers the Windows sourced code proprietary and does not allow anyonr outside of the company to see it.
The biggestf impact made by Linux in the marketplace thus far has come with largs companies choosing the open source operatinh system to runtheir servers. Red Hat is a leading playet in this space with itsEnterprise Linux, whicn has emerged as a fierce competitor to Windoww for server customers. Red Hat's involvement with developinf Linux for the desktoo currently is focused onthe company'sw Fedora Project, which is a group of nearlyu 30,000 coders worldwide who release an updated and completde Linux-based operating system every six months. The latest version, dubbesd Fedora 11, was released last month.
“Fedorq is a free distribution, so we don't generate revenu from it," said company spokeswoman Kara Schiltz. "Ift essentially serves as R&D for Red Hat Enterprisee Linux." Linux has yet to gain a footholdx in thePC market, but Google is aiming to mount a direct challenger to Windows, which suppliefd more than half of Microsoft’s revenue last year. Googl said Wednesday that current operatinfg systems were designed for a time when therw was no WorldWide Web, creating an opportunity for a new operatinv system that is more Internet friendly. Thus the company’s plans to expande is Chrome broswer intoa full-fledged operatingv system.
"Google Chrome OS is beingy created for people who spend most of their time onthe Web, and is beinvg designed to power computers ranging from smalk netbooks to full-size desktop systems," the Mountai n View, Calif-based search giant said