New Google Inc software will start up a computer as fast as a television can be turned on. Google gave the first public look at its Chrome OS four months after declaring its intention of developing the PC’s main software, a move that pits it directly against Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc. True to Google’s internet-pedigree, the Chrome OS resembles a web browser more than it does a traditional computer operating system like Microsoft Windows, matching Google’s ambition to drive people to the Web where they can see Google ads.

The software will be initially be available by the holiday season of 2010 on netbooks that meet Google’s hardware specifications, such as using only memory chips to store data instead of slower hard drives.

Sundar Pinchai, vice-president of product management for Google’s Chrome OS, siad computers running Chrome OS will be able to start in less than seven seconds. “From the time you press boot you want it to be like a TV: You turn it on and you should be on the Web using your applications,” he said.

- Online video revolution in 2006 that led to a boom in homemade and professional content on the internet and helped reshape everything from pop culture to politics.

- Facebook opens to non-collage students and twitter takes off in 2006

- The iPhone debuts in 2007 and smartphones go from a luxury item to a necessity with an app for just about every aspect of modern life.

- American presidential campaign in 2008 in which the internet changed every facet of the way campaigns are run. Obama camp managed campaigns on web effectively.

- Iranian election protest in 2009 when twitter proved vital in organizing demonstrations and also as a platform for expressing dissent.

- Wikipedia, the free opensource encyclopaedia, launches in 2001 and today boasts more than 14 million articles in 271 different languages and bringing strangers together on projects.

- Napster shutdown in 2001, opening the file-sharing floodgates.

- Google AdWords launched in 2000 allowing advertisers to target their customers with laser-sharp precision.

- Craigslist, the free classifieds site, expands outside San Francisco in 2000, reshaping the way advertisements are placed.