Google headquarters in Mountain View, California (File)

Google Incorporated, the owner of the popular Internet search engine, is developing its own computer operating system in a direct grab for a market long dominated by software giant, Microsoft Corporation.

Google made the announcement on its Web site.

The company said its software will be based on its Chrome Internet browser and be available to consumers in the second half of 2010.

Google said the computer operating system will initially be designed for low-cost laptops called netbooks.

The company said the new operating system's key features will be "speed, simplicity and security".

The move further intensifies Google's competition with Microsoft, whose Windows system currently runs about 90 percent of the world's personal computers.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.