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Looking at Google these days we not only see a search giant but also a software company which has been built through acquisitions and internal developments. Google now boldly validates this fact with the announcement of Google Chrome OS, a lightweight open source operating system. “Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects,” says Sundar Pichai, VP of Product Management at Google.

The first place we can expect to see the Google Chrome OS in action will be on netbooks, popular with business travelers, and eventually full-sized desktops. The operating system is targeted towards users who spend most of their time online. The new OS is designed to start up and launch the Web within a few seconds.

Viruses, malware, and security updates may be a thing of the past for Google Chrome OS users. “It should just work,” says Google who is “going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS.”

With Microsoft battling for ranking in the search market and Google booting into the OS market, expect to see some interesting developments in the near future.

Source: Google Blog

Facebook board member Marc Andreessen in a Reuters interview stated that he anticipates the social networking giant to reach $500 million in 2009 and billions more in five years. “There’s every reason to expect in my view that the thing can be doing billions in revenue five years from now,” Andreessen said.

The core source of Facebook’s revenue is engagement advertising however the company has been actively exploring alternative revenue streams such as virtual currency as a way of monetizing Facebook applications.

Andreessen also made news this week announcing a new $300 million technology venture capital fund with partner Ben Horowitz. The new VC firm appropriately named Andreessen Horowitz will focus on startup companies targeting the Internet, cloud computing, software, networking, and related industries.