Samsung will launch this week two new Chrome OS-based computers, a laptop and desktop that have been designed to be significantly faster and more versatile than previous models.

Microsoft has signed a patent agreement with Taiwan's Compal Electronics that provides coverage under its patent portfolio for Compal's tablets, mobile phones, e-readers and other consumer devices running Android or the Chrome platform, the company said Sunday.

Quanta Computer, the Taiwanese contract computer manufacturer, is now the ninth company to license patents from Microsoft for its Android devices, the companies said Thursday.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin said Windows and other traditional PC operating systems are "torturing users" at Google's Chrome OS launch event Wednesday, where the company claimed 75 per cent of business users can be converted from Windows to Chrome OS right away.

While Google currently does not see any conflict between its Android vision for tablets and smartphones and its Chrome OS cloud-based laptop vision, a company official acknowledged today that there is potential for such a conflict in the future.

Google's move to ban Windows for internal use was ostensibly for security reasons. But that looks more like a convenient excuse than anything else, because there are plenty of reasons the ban doesn't make sense.

Google plans to release its Chrome operating system late this year, initially targeting laptop users, the head of the project said Wednesday.

Google has been focusing development on the netbook and tablet markets for some time now, using Android OS as a stepping stone into the sub-laptop operating system market. The first tablets featuring the Android OS have already arrived, with more on the way for 2010, which that begs the question: What of Google's other mobile software project, Chrome OS? Will it make its way onto tablets too?

Microsoft is launching Windows 7, Google has fired back with Chrome OS, and today Microsoft is turning up the volume on Office 2010. That's a lot to juggle, and soon you'll be asking yourself: Can I afford to upgrade or can I afford not to upgrade?