14 DAY TRIAL // On the heels of Google releasing its browser centric open source operating system, a team from computer manufacturer Dell adapted the source code to produce an OS tailored to Dell Mini 10v machines. Earlier this month, the Mountain View search giant offered the source code for Google Chrome OS, and open source pseudo-platform designed as a one-trick-pony, namely to exclusively run the Chrome browser and nothing more. A Dell team labored to adapt Chromium OS, the project behind Chrome OS, to Dell Mini 10v computers, and made an image of the OS available as a free download.
Dell Mini 10v netbooks currently come pre-installed with Windows XP SP3, and it is interesting to see just how easy it is to kick Windows aside, even though just a little bit and load Chrome OS in its place. Fact is that Chromium OS is Linux after all, but unlike the Linux operating system, Chrome OS will have Google to back it up.
In the long run, it won’t be so much Windows vs. Chrome OS as Microsoft vs. Google. The Redmond company has the advantage in this respect, namely a long history of close collaboration with original equipment manufacturers, but Google’s negotiating is not to be underestimated. The Mountain View-based search giant might be capable of getting OEMs such as Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo, etc. to embrace closely Chrome OS, more closely, in fact, that any other Linux distro, including the Ubuntu distribution.
“ChromiumOS is a small, optimized OS whose purpose is to make it extremely simple and easy to browse the web. Without a network connection, ChromiumOS is not very interesting. With a network connection, ChromiumOS shines. The Chromium browser is extremely fast and makes for a great web-centric browsing experience. Boot time appears quick too - about 12 seconds from hitting the power button,” a Dell representative noted.
What users will be able to download is a USB key loaded with ChromiumOS. Obviously, because it is open source, the OS is available for download at no charge at all, and it even works with the Broadcom Wi-Fi adapter on the Mini 10v. Users need to understand that the Dell flavor of the Chrome OS is more of an experiment, rather than a fully-fledged project.
“Here are the caveats: It will take more than 5-10 minutes for the ChromiumOS network connection manager to "see" the access points and allow you to select and connect - be patient. Wired connections appear to work fine and appear quick to connect. There are currently issues with both the connection manager as well as the underlying components (wpa_supplicant) that can easily break or get hung. When in doubt, reboot and give it another try. Use this image at your own risk - it comes to you totally unsupported and very minimally tested,” the Dell team member added.
Early adopters that want to give Chrome OS a try on Dell Mini 10v computers will need a USB key with a storage capacity of at least 8GB. “The user name to login is "dell". The desktop login window will complete the user name by adding "@gmail.com" to the end. The user password is "dell." The root password is set to "dell." I've included a script in /etc called "mount_rw.sh" to allow root (or sudo) to remount the root partition for updates/changes/whatever you like,” the Dell representative explained.