Installing Google Chrome OS as a Virtual Machine

I’m not quite sure what prompted Google’s Chrome OS briefing yesterday, as we could be up to a year away from retail delivery of their Linux-based cloudbooks. It’s also a bit puzzling that Google would simultaneously pursue two distinct mobile operating systems. (see Android) However, I was looking for a project at 4AM and fired up a very early developer build of Chromium in VMWare Fusion (video above). If you’d also like to poke around with the browser-centric OS, head on over to GDGT for the VMWare or VirtualBox image. And to learn more of what we know and don’t know about Chrome OS, head on over to Technologizer.

3 thoughts on “Installing Google Chrome OS as a Virtual Machine”

  1. “…It’s also a bit puzzling that Google would simultaneously pursue two distinct mobile operating systems.”

    Its inaccurate to call the Chrome OS a “mobile” operating system or compare it to Android, as much as calling the latest build Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 “mobile” against the iPhone.

    The big division is 1) Form factor; where Android is for handsets and MIDs, and Chrome OS is for QWERTY netbooks 2) Connectivity; Android has a radio stack, Chrome doesn’t.

    In the short term ( next five years ) phones and netbooks will remain distinct, but yes, ultimately the lines will get very blurry.

    Looking ahead to when personal computing is completely ubiquitous and Redfly-esque terminals are everywhere, like public payphones used to be, ChromeOS will find itself well positioned.

    Sit down at any library, restaurant, coffee shop, or wherever you’ve chosen to work at, and the surface style table prompt you with Chrome OS sign-in. After signing in all your preferences appear, your cloud storage is available, your social graph’s activities pop up.

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