Chome OS as a Native Operating System

Unless you have been living under a rock you have most likely heard that Google released the code for it’s lightening fast new operating system: Chrome OS. However no device maker has been able to integrate the OS into their hardware, so no one has actually been able to try out the software in a native environment. Thankfully the kind folks at JkOnTheRun have been able to build the OS into a netbook.

This is what they had to say about the integration, “Overall, this build of ChromeOS isn’t booting fast. When Google showed off their developer build, it was far faster. But that was on different hardware — a Solid State Disk drive system — and was a full build. The version I’m using is stripped down and totally not optimized for my netbook. So I really didn’t learn anything from the boot process, but that’s OK. We’ll have to see how well a final version that’s optimized for particular hardware works. Browsing performance — the crux of ChromeOS — is pretty darn fast, however. No bells, no whistles, just speed. It’s faster on the hard drive than when running from a USB key. With the latest homebrew build — ChromeOS Cherry — I do have Wi-Fi support, which is new. And I’m learning more about the little panels that float for your Calendar and IM. Plus, I have my Google Bookmark sync and a few other bits, like a quick sleep and wake — with one gotcha that you’ll see. And what exactly does happen when you plug a USB drive or memory card to your netbook running ChromeOS? Again, ChromeOS isn’t ready for you or for me to use on a daily basis. That’s not the point of what I’m doing. I’m simply trying to get a feel for where this browser-based experience is and where it’s going. If I can eventually run this on a netbook all day, it could be an ideal mobile companion to a full-fledged notebook running a traditional desktop operating system.”