14 DAY TRIAL // One of the buzz words in today's netbook industry is Chrome, more precisely Chrome OS, the much-anticipated Linux-based operating system that the Mountain View, California-based Google announced in early July. The upcoming OS is expected to be featured on some of the new netbook systems that will roll out next year, providing enthusiasts with a choice for a lightweight, ultraportable and affordable alternative to some of the current Wintel netbooks. Although the OS is scheduled for release in 2010, the search engine giant is expected to roll out a preview edition this year, which might just end up on a couple of systems designed by some vendors in the Chinese notebook industry.
According to a recent news-article on shanzai.com, citing sources in China, new devices powered by the Chinese-designed Loongson processor could go on sale with a pre-installed version of Google's Chrome OS. The report claims that a company called Lemote, which is partially funded by the government, will start selling the Fullong Mini or the Yeelong notebook PC, both of which are designed to work with open-source software, much like Google's Linux-based Chrome OS.
Integrating Google's Chrome on the Loongson-powered devices is a good marketing strategy, as the operating system could draw more attention to a hardware platform that isn't exactly the most popular in the industry. In addition, it appears that the current operating system, featured on these devices, called Loonux, has been received with criticism, making Google's Chrome OS a much-welcomed upgrade.
On a side note, there have been recent speculations according to which device manufacturers are working on Tegra-based devices that will be powered by the much-anticipated OS. Such solutions are seen as an interesting alternative to current Intel-based netbooks that typically run on Microsoft's old Windows XP operating system.