Yea Its Basically meant to provide Simple, Fast, Free & Secure OS to people, I'm really looking forward to it. It cant compete Microsoft obviously, but it'll make its own place.
If it is built well, and it doesn't track it's users habits on the computer like Google does with their search, then I think it will be a contender. Especially with the fact that they're planning on releasing it for free. If it comes pre-installed on new computers, then that could bring down the cost of new PC's allowing people to be able to afford better technology.