Low-cost netbooks could provide the fertile ground Google needs to make its free PC operating system a success as it prepares to take on Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) dominant Windows juggernaut, industry observers say.

Google's new Chrome Linux-based operating system will be free-of-charge, in stark contrast to Windows, which analysts say costs anywhere from $20 for the older XP system to at least $150 for the current Vista system.

That price gap could be just what Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) needs to attract price-conscious consumers of netbooks, the bare-bones PCs which sell for as little as $400 each. The Internet search giant has said Chrome will initially be targeted at netbooks.

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