With the end of 2010 fast approaching, it is almost time for the release of Google’s long awaited Chrome OS. This week we would like to know if you will use Chrome OS in conjunction with your other operating systems or switch to it as your primary OS.
Photo by Wikipedia.
Chrome OS is an entire Linux-based operating system built around Google’s Chrome web browser. The browser itself will act as the primary interface, with all of the apps being web-based as opposed to locally installed. This will definitely be a bit different from what most people are used to.
The official version of Chrome OS will be shipped on specific computers available from Google’s manufacturing partners. So at the moment there is no indication that it will be made available for general download. That is not good news if you are wanting to try (or use) the operating system without buying a new computer. But there is good news though!
The code for Chromium OS is open source and available to work with just like the Chromium version of Google’s browser. So there is no doubt that new versions of the operating system will be compiled and made available for download. In fact there have already been some initial builds compiled and released this year for those who are eager to try the operating system for themselves (see links below).
What are your thoughts on Chrome OS? Will you use or try the operating system for yourself? Do you plan to make it your primary operating system after it is released? Let us know in the comments!
Now that you have finished this week’s poll, you can try out an early independent copy of Chrome (Chromium) OS for yourself. A young programmer from England has compiled two different versions of Chrome (Chromium) OS and made them available for download. The first version called Flow is a modified/enhanced version that provides support for extra hardware types and has additional features. The second version is called Vanilla and is an unmodified “Plain Jane” build of Chrome (Chromium) OS. You can learn more about both builds and download them using the following links.
Like the idea of trying Chrome (Chromium) OS out but would prefer to do so in a virtual environment? Then you will definitely want to see our article on running Chrome (Chromium) OS in VirtualBox.
- Published 11/10/10