Analysis: Five ways Google spits on Microsoft

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Computerworld - Google really really doesn't like Microsoft.

Even the headlines this week fed off that animus. Google Drops A Nuclear Bomb on Microsoft said one, Google Launching OS, Firing Torpedo Into Microsoft, went another.

The 655-word blog post that announced Chrome OS started it all, of course. But almost lost in the hoopla over that manifesto were the shots Google took at its rival, five taunts that jabbed at Windows' most notable, and cliched, shortcomings.

Google says: "...the operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no Web."

Translation: Windows is old -- it celebrated its 25th anniversary last November -- and creaky, with roots that go back even further into the dark days B.I., or Before Internet. And old equals bad.

Google, which is less than half that old -- it turns 11 this September -- wants to reminds people that it's a Net-centric firm, unlike Microsoft, and so should know better how to build an OS where the Web is the application platform.

An undercurrent here is the dig that, even though former CEO Bill Gate's famous "Internet Tidal Wave Memo" (download PDF) was issued in 1995, Microsoft still didn't see search, and Google, coming.

Google says: "We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the Web in a few seconds."

Translation: Windows is slow, Windows is bloated, Windows takes an eternity to boot and show users the desktop.

Critics have been leveling those charges at the operating system for years, nearly as long as Windows has been around, but they picked up some serious steam when Microsoft launched Vista.

Almost immediately after Vista's 2007 debut, users flooded Microsoft support forums with complaints about lethargic start-ups and shut-downs. "I've compared it to a Commodore 64 loading programs from tape, but I think the Commodore was faster," said one user in April 2007. "I'm currently writing this on my other PC, because nothing has happened on my Vista machine for about 15 minutes."

Microsoft admitted Vista's sluggish speeds by touting under-the-hood improvements in Service Pack 1 (SP1), but went even further as it dissed the current OS when it bragged about how much faster the new Windows 7 starts up and shuts down.

In other words, Google's jab hit Microsoft where it hurts.

Google says: "...we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates."

Translation: Windows PCs are malware-ridden machines, Windows is constantly under attack, Windows requires constant frequent patching to keep the bad guys at bay.