In a nutshell, Google Chrome OS is a glorified web browser that will support applications that reside not on the machine itself, but on remote servers accessible via the World Wide Web. So essentially, the browser is the operating system. For this reason, Chrome OS is a lightweight system that will initially be targeted at netbooks, as netbooks are known to have low-end specifications.

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects going into the Google Chrome OS project and one of the most interesting things to note is the speed at which you can turn your computer on and be browsing the web, a mere 7 seconds. Compare that to the traditional 45+ seconds and you can see why Chrome OS might well make a huge impact. One other thing to think about: Will viruses affect Chrome OS, since supposedly nothing is stored on the computer? I suppose only time will tell.

And while there’s still another year to go until Chrome OS is actually released. Google has made the code open source, which means that people can go download and compile the source to see what it’s really all about.

Want to give Chrome OS a try?

• Download VirtualBox
• Download Google Chrome OS .vmdk file

Then follow these steps:

1. Install the latest version of VirtualBox
2. Start VirtualBox and click on “New” button. This will start a wizard that will help you create a new VM in VirtualBox.
3. Name your VM “Chrome OS” and select “Linux” from Operating System dropdown menu, and “Other Linux” from Version dropdown menu.
4. Assign your VM some RAM.
5. Now Select “use existing hard disk” option and select the .vmdk file of Chrome OS that you downloaded.
6. Click Next and finish the wizard.

And you’re done. Simply click on the green start button and wait for about 7 seconds for Chrome OS to boot up. You must use your Google ID to log into the operating system. What are your impressions of the new OS?

Just over three months after launching their browser, Google representatives have confirmed that Google Chrome  had a change of status Thursday. Google’s browser is now out of the beta stage and ready for action…for Windows users at least.

Chrome still lacks support for basic features like form autofill, RSS, extensions, and perhaps more crucially, has no official support for the Linux and Mac platforms, but I still suggest giving it a try if you have a Windows machine laying around your house.

If you want to download Chrome, you can get it directly from Google, or if you already have Chrome installed, you can update it by going to Chrome’s About page, and then forcing the update with the dialog box.

For me, being a Linux user, I will be sticking with Firefox until Google can come up with official support for a Linux version and at least implement extensions.

Google has just released their own open source in-development browser, dubbed Chrome, just a few hours ago.

While some of the reviews sound good, and the screenshots of the browser look good. I’ve not yet actually had a chance to try it, due to the fact that I run Linux, and Google has only released the browser for Windows for this beta, leaving Mac and Linux users out in the cold. This wouldn’t surprise me, except for the fact that it is an open source browser, so you would think if anything, Linux users would have first shot.

Google has said that they are working on Mac and Linux version, but have not set a release date, or any details about the Mac and Linux versions.

I might get a review in for it once it becomes available, but for now, the only way I’ve found to run Chrome would be to use a virtual machine to run Windows and run it inside of that, which isn’t plausible. I think that for now, I’ll be sticking with Firefox.