"Thursday's on campus announcement was the second major event Google held for its nascent Chrome OS, and while some have churlishly referred to the project as vaporware, let's not be silly: Chrome OS is real, and by just announcing that it's working on such a thing, Google has already changed the PC operating landscape and then some. The question, going forward, is how much more it will change things. I anticipate seeing Microsoft lower the pricing on its functionally-challenged Windows 7 Starter edition, for example. But if the software giant is serious about competing with Google, it will need to do the unthinkable and simply make Windows 7 Starter available to PC makers for free. It will go kicking and screaming into such a future. The only question is how long it takes."