Google Chorme OS preview

Google Chrome OS is an open source operating system designed by Google to work exclusively with web applications. It's Chromium OS, the core open source element which is used the for Google Chrome OS. The user interface takes a minimalist approach, resembling that of the Chrome web browser. Because the browser will be the only application residing on the device, Google Chrome OS is aimed at users who spend most of their computer time on the Internet.

Do you want to test Google Chrome OS yourself?

Here's how:

1) Download and install a virtual machine such as VirtualBox.

2) Download the Google Chrome OS disk image from here and unzip the contents to a directory of your choice.

3) Start VirtualBox, and load the disk image from the directory above.

When you first boot Google Chrome OS, you should see a login screen very quickly. Boot times on Google Chrome OS are fast; if you don't see something within ten to fifteen seconds, odds are your hardware is not compatible with the current build. Google maintains a list of hardware with known behaviors , so if you have access to anything on that list you can improve your odds of booting and running by using something documented there.

You can log in one of two ways: with a Google or Gmail account (if you have one), or by using a local login named chromos (blank password). In order for any login other than chromos to work, you need to have network connectivity - so if you're dubious about the state of your networking on your test hardware, you can always log in with chromos first and check connectivity once you're inside. Note that any login name has "@gmail.com" automatically appended to it; this is normal.

For more information, visit the Chromium Projects website here.

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