Not quite new to the scene but still very new to many consumers is ChromeOS. This is an operating system designed for simplicity by Google for netbooks (ChromeBooks). The OS is simply the Chrome web browser with additional features to make it a more personal and productive experience.
Powering on a ChromeBook is instant as there is no local storage to boot from. You are instantly greeted with a log in screen in which you log in with your Google account. You are also given the option here to select a picture for the user, a nice feature here is the option to use the webcam to take the photo instantly. After logging in you will have access to all your email, contacts, documents (Google Docs), pictures and anything else you have stored away within your Google account. This will be true with any ChromeBook that you log in to because of the cloud storage. You can also create a list of up to 5 other accounts that can log into the ChromeBook.
Themes, apps and extensions are a nice touch to make the OS a little more personal and possibly help to get away from the “This is just a web browser” feeling. Most of which are free with some having “in-app payments” to add features to the app. The applications available for ChromeOS right now are limited, though consumers purchasing a ChromeBook will most likely be journalists or students which the store provides plenty of apps to help the productive blogger/test taker. There are a few games as well, including the infamous Angry Birds.
Right now there are only the Google CR-48 and the Samsung Series 5 ChromeBooks available that sport the OS as of June 15th 2011. These are aimed at replacing netbooks and any portable PC for a consumer who doesn’t need the extra features and applications (already installed usually) on other devices priced similarly or even higher. We will be using the ChromeBook over the next few days to get a better understanding of what it has to offer for us to trade in our Windows netbook so stay tuned for the next blog about ChromeOS.
Source: Samsung
