The Microsoft and Google face-off also has less public aspects. One of the races with a low profile is the development of a cloud operating system. The Mountain View Company is not breathing a single word on the matter. In fact, Google is denying the fact that former Plan 9 engineers are building its cloud OS.

Microsoft however was a tad more opened. Steve Berkowitz, the Microsoft senior vice president in charge of Windows Live did point out that the Redmond Company was working on a way to host a whole range of products that are currently an integer part of the operating system in the Internet cloud. In the end, this will result in a mesh between the Windows operating system and Windows Live.

Xcerion is a 15-employee startup from Sweden that is currently hard at work to beat both Microsoft and Google to the market with the release of a cloud OS. The fact of the matter is that, while the venture-backed startup may be credited with little chances of success in comparison to Microsoft and Google, it has the backing of advisory board member Lou Perazzoli, one of the architects of Windows NT and that of former Microsoft Chief Financial Officer John Connors as an investor.

In essence, Xcerion is a layer designed to integrate with a variety of browsers and operating systems. This layer will weigh in at 2 MB and will take the form of an XML-based downloadable. All the user data will be stored on datacenters servers running Ubuntu Linux. Xcerion will begin a private beta test in a month or so, and the final product is scheduled for availability in the third quarter of 2007, revealed Mary Jo Foley.