MOSCOW, July 8 (RIA Novosti) - Google has announced that it will launch a new operating system, Chrome, for laptops and netbooks in 2010.

The operating system (OS) with its key features being "speed, simplicity and security," is seen as a challenge to Microsoft. It will allow developers to use ordinary web development tools rather than a specialized development kit, according to Britain's The Register technology news website.

"We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds," Google said in a press release on Tuesday.

The first netbooks running Chrome will be brought onto the market in the second half of 2010. Users will also be able to install Google Chrome in their PCs.

Google launched a browser for Windows, also called Chrome, last fall. The company said over 30 million people use it regularly.