I told you so.
Google had to eventually threaten the Microsoft OS stranglehold. They could not in all conscience not do so. See their announcement here for some details of this very key development:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html
We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to worry about losing their computer or forgetting to back up files. Even more importantly, they don't want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates. And any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the Internet.