Google CEO hails company's new PC operating system

SUN VALLEY: Eric Schmidt spent his first six years as Google's CEO resisting a push by the company's co-founders to develop their own operating system for personal computers.

But Schmidt began to change his mind after seeing the early versions of Google's Web browser. Now he is convinced Google's plans for an operating system tied to the company's nine-month-old browser will lead to a simpler, more enjoyable future for computer users.

``They are game changers,'' Schmidt said of the Chrome browser and operating system during a 75-minute interview Thursday with a group of reporters in Idaho.

The operating system, due out in the second half of 2010, intensifies Mountain View, California-based Google's rivalry with Seattle-based Microsoft Corp. Schmidt sought to downplay the escalating battle in his remarks.