November 24, 2009

Installing Google's Chrome OS is not for the layman, and even if you're tech-savvy enough to get it running, the results may bear less resemblance to Google's demos you might hope. This operating system is truly tied to the hardware for which Google intends it, and current testers won't experience some of the mooted features, like instant boot times. I took a preliminary look at Chrome OS, however, and what I discovered provides tantalizing hints at what Google considers the future of computing.

Because Chrome OS requires very specific hardware to install natively, I decided to install it in a virtual machine running on a Windows 7 PC. I downloaded a compiled build using BitTorrent and got Chrome OS running in Sun's VirtualBox. Note that the virtual machine version of the OS is different from what users on native hardware will experience, particularly when it comes to the instant start-up and USB detection features Chrome OS's creators have mentioned. For the most part, however, it looks like an accurate idea of what to expect. (Note that I didn't dig into security in the Chrome OS as PCMag.com's Security Analyst Neil Rubenking has already taken a preliminary look.)

The first thing you see when starting up Chrome is a plain blue log-on screen, and any Gmail account sign-in will get you past this (as long as your virtual machine's network settings are correct, which may require a fair bit of tweaking). Once you're in, you'll see what at first looks like nothing more than a browser. On closer examination, you'll notice a white Google Chrome icon to the left of your tabs, and some smaller buttons way to the right at top (more on these later).

Source:- http://www.pcmag.com