Google co-founder Sergey Brin says that as many as 80 percent of Google’s employees are no longer using Windows computers. The comments came from an interview with All Things Digital, and suggests that the majority of Google employees are working with the company’s own Chrome OS rather than other platforms. And why not? If you work for Google, you might as well use Google’s OS.

“I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with Windows,” Brin said. “It has a lot of great security features. But I think the complexity of managing your computer is really torturing users.” He claims that Chrome OS does not “put the burden of managing the computer” on users. By next year he hopes that even more employees are using the company’s OS.

If you’re looking for a new all-in-one computer that can also serve as a media center, then check out Gateway’s new 21.5-inch ZX4951 and 23-inch ZX6951 computers. Both feature a new curved design that’s easy on the eyes.

The ZX4951 and ZX6951 will cost you $899 and $999. Specifications for the ZX4951 include: 2.8GHz Intel Pentium dual-core processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB hard drive, 21.5-inch 1080p multi-touch display, Built-in Wi-Fi and a Built-in webcam.

SkinnyBytes has just introduced a new lineup of PoE (Power-over-Ethernet) Computers, which are available in 8.9-inch to 18.5-inch models. These computers feature a touchscreen display making them perfect for business and schools.

Power-over-Ethernet computers consume 90% less power than a traditional computer, which is good for the Earth and your wallet. All of these PoE models are compatible with IEEE standard 802.3at for Power-over-Ethernet, which provides up to 30 watts of power to a device over a standard network cable.

LA Dodgers fans can now get their favorite team branded on their computer. MSI and the Dodgers have teamed up to announce these exclusive Dodgers computers.

These machines will feature the Dodgers logo and digital Dodgers content. They include the limited edition MSI Wind Top AE2220 and the Wind U135DX netbook. The Wind Top features a Core 2 Duo T6600 CPU, NVIDIA Ion graphics, a 21.5-inch screen, and 4GB of RAM.

Between 2003 and 2005, Dell sold millions of OptiPlex computers. According to documents, Dell knew these systems were full of dangerously faulty motherboards that might catch fire, but sold them anyway.

The NYT paints Dell as a desperate company, so hell-bent on cutting costs that they knowingly sold computers with capacitors that were sure to eventually burst and ooze all over the motherboard and they refused to fix the 1000 affected computers of the firm representing them regarding the related lawsuit. Apparently Dell was fixing these systems with the same faulty motherboard here and there.

Looks like a bad McAfee update for Windows XP has shut down thousands, maybe even millions of computers around the world. Uh oh. The news is all over Twitter and apparently California sent an email to state workers a warning them of the problem.

Engadget says that “DAT update 5958 deletes the svchost.exe file, which then triggers a false-positive in McAfee itself and sets off a chain of uncontrolled restarts and loss of networking functionality.”

Not surprisingly, the launch of Windows 7 has triggered at least a temporary spike in PC sales according to Morgan Stanley analyst Katheryn Huberty. Computer sales jumped about 40 percent during the week of Microsoft’s OS launch compared to the same period a year earlier.

That number is in part offset by buyers holding off on their purchases during the previous two weeks, when sales dropped 29 percent and then 2 percent versus 2008, but is well above earlier weeks, when sales were up by at most 19 percent.

The slow global economy is hurting the PC market. Demand for computers is up and what computers are selling are being sold at lower than traditional retail prices leading to reduced revenues for computer makers. Many consumers are also resorting to cheaper computers like netbooks as well.

According to research firm IDC, the computer market is in for a big loss in 2009 as PC shipments are expected to drop 4.5% for the year. The company reports that shipment sin Q4 2008 dropped 1.9% in what is traditionally a big shopping season.

Specialty consumer electronics company Okoro Media Systems has unveiled a new Windows Vista media device designed for the home entertainment room. It is called the OMS-SX100 and you’ll find it pricing around $1,700.

The OMS-SX100 is described as an “Ultra Low Profile” digital entertainment system powered by the AMD Athlon X2 platform. It supports Blu-ray, when working with a Blu-ray drive, to make it Blu-ray profile 2.0 compliant and also capable of decoding 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS along with 7.1 Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio formats.

When customizing your PC at Dell, you can now click on a $19 option called “Iron Man movie with bonus content?” Say what? We love Iron Man, but surely it’s full of evil DRM. It’s what Dell’s Global Consumer Group Director is calling Dell’s “slow immersion into content as a major piece of the puzzle in terms of what consumers want from a PC.”

The flick can be had on the Inspiron, Studio, or XPS laptop or desktop, playable on that machine or your choice of Windows Media Extender. Dell will soon offer more movie preloads and eventually a whole iTunes type of download store. The move is a gutsy one and could let them get to customers first, before Apple. Customers getting movies when they purchase their PC should give them an advantage.

For lots of people when it starts getting close to back to school time, they start looking for a new computer. For most users a basic computer will do the trick and the biggest factor is the price of the system. While eMachines may not have the best reputation, its computers certainly fit the low-cost requirement.

Today eMachines announced three new computers just in time for the back to school crowd. The first new system is the T3656 desktop with a retail price of $299.99. For that amount you get an Intel Celeron CPU, 1GB of RAM and a 160GB HDD. If you need more performance the eMachines T5374 retails for $399.99 and features a Intel Celeron dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM and a 320GB HDD.

Alienware has been showing off today a new desktop PC which offers up quad graphics processors for advanced gaming needs. It is call the Alienware ALX CrossFireX.

This new Alienware PC gaming machine is certainly a nice looking computer, but its looks are easily matched by what is under the hood. This towner utilizes two ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 graphics cards, each housing two GPUs and a full 1GB of dedicated graphics memory. It also supports DirectX 10.1 and runs Windows Vista.

After 18 years spent playing the game and millions of matches won and lost, a computer has now solved the riddle of whether there can be a perfect game of checkers. Computer scientists working at the University of Alberta in Canada used a program called Chinook to factor out the 500 billion positions possible in any one game of checkers. The result was that it is possible to reach a draw against your opponent but it’s exceedingly rare to happen. Chinook was able to plot out every possible move and reach the determination but for flesh and blood players, thinking ahead 20 or 30 moves down the line is asking a little too much from the software in our heads.

The U of A researchers also said that checkers was by far the most complex game ever to be successfully worked out by …