This week Google made an announcement that has several implications. The announcement in question is of course, the famous dumping of Microsoft Windows as an operating system within the company. Although it is not a total ban, Windows can only be used by special permission and that too for reasons like bug testing.

This dumping has been more or less attributed to the hacking attack Google experienced in China. But there is more to this than meets the eye. The impending release of the Chrome OS may have a lot to do with the timing of the announcement. Although the release is expected to be several months away, this would force all employees to move away from an existing reliance. However, Google is not forcing its employees to only use Chrome OS. As an alternative to Windows, Linux based PC’s and Mac machines have been given to them. Surprisingly, there has been little opposition to the move internally. Apparently, there would have been more of a fuss if Google had cut out Mac machines instead of Windows PC’s.

Another result of this dumping is that it shows the deteriorating level of confidence large corporations have in Windows as an operating system. Mobile phone maker HTC has moved on to Android over Windows and recently MSI announced that its second attempt at hitting the iPad market would be powered by Android as well. This seems like a shame because, after a long time Microsoft has actually come out with a decent OS in Windows 7. How this trend continues will be well worth watching.