Gates said that , which is due to be unveiled late next year, is just Linux packaged differently.
"There's many, many forms of Linux operating systems out there and packaged in different ways and booted in different ways," said Gates in an interview with . "In some ways I am surprised people are acting like there's something new. I mean, you've got Android running on Netbooks. It's got a browser in it."
Gates claimed there isn't really say much about Chrome OS, the first operating system to be designed specifically for broadband users, because Google has said very little about how it will actually work.
"The more vague they are, the more interesting it is," he said.
He also pointed out that the fact that Chrome is both an operating system and a browser shows how broad the term browser has become.
"It just shows the word browser has become a truly meaningless word," he said. "What's a browser? What's not a browser? If you're playing a movie, is that a browser or not a browser? If you're doing annotations, is that a browser? If you're editing text, is that a browser or not a browser? In large part, it's more an abuse of terminology than a real change."
Separately Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has also been critical of Google Chrome OS, suggesting that Windows, rather than a browser-centric operating system, is the right approach. He said that half of PC use today is spent doing work outside the browser.
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