accede to the Chrome channel. Updates made since then have givenChrome OS users better file format support, faster navigation, revisedmenus, dramatically improved offline abilities, and a traditional-looking desktop. Like Chrome the browser, Chrome-the-OS has a freely available open-source sibling, called Chromium OS. Please note that because of thesimilarities between the Chrome-the-browser and the Chrome OS, partsof the Chrome review have been reproduced here where applicable
Installation
Installation is not an issue for the Chrome OS since it comes reinstall. Guest mode in Chrome OS cleverly uses the Chrome browser's trackless browsing mode, called Incognito. Gone from previous versions is the mandated Webcam photo. It took our avatar about 30 seconds to synchronize our existing account avatar from the cloud.
Chrome then takes anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds to synchronize your Google settings, if any, and then the computer is ready to be used. There's no doubt that the EULA is annoying, but we've never seen another new, unused operating system start so quickly.
Interface
Google has clearly spent some serious time developing the new interface. There's an actual desktop that looks a bit cribbed from Windows 7, with Chrome-the-browser pinned to the far left of the Launcher, and other apps pinned right next to it.
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While most of the desktop has been designed to feel like modern personal computers, the App List brings a more mobile flair to the new Chrome OS layout.
(Credit: Google)
The desktop itself shows only your background by default, but a Tic-Tack-Toe-style icon on the Launcher reveals all your installed apps over the desktop background. The lower-right corner shows the time, Internet connection status, battery status, and shows your Google account avatar to indicate who's logged in. Click the avatar to show shutdown options and reveal more information and settings.
Changes made in the browser tend to be reflected in Chrome OS about a month or so later.
The look of Chrome has changed remarkably little since its surprise debut in September 2008. Tabs are on top, the location bar -- which Google likes to call the Omni -- dominates the minimalist design, and the browser has few visible control buttons besides Back, Forward, and a combined Stop/Reload button.
On Chrome OS, the upper-right corner of the browser hosts a square icon and an X. The X is to close the browser window. The window snap is another cue taken from Windows 7, but it's a clever and intuitive one, and works well in Chrome.
Hiding essentials like that remains an odd design choice to make. Chrome's extensions are fairly limited in how they can alter the browser's interface. The benefit maintains a uniform look in the browser, but it definitely restricts how much the browser can be customized.
Even with its limitations, the browser interface design has remained a contemporary exemplar of how to minimize the browser's screen footprint while remaining easy to use and versatile. The operating system itself doesn't do much -- it's a browser. |
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Chrome has made great strides in the past year bringing console-quality games to the browser via HTML5 and Native Client.
It's an important one, too, as Chrome OS improves with each regular iteration of the operating system. In Chrome OS's first year, it updated eight times. Things that were buggy originally, such as touch pad support on the demo hardware Cr-48, started to work properly. Many Chrome-safe extensions that wouldn't install on the Chrome OS beta, but would on the browser, now work in Chrome OS. Google has also leveraged its successes in other departments to benefit the Chrome OS. Google's notorious for not always having good integration between its services, so this -- and solid Google Play integration for Books, Movies, and Music -- are welcome improvements.
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