Dell delivers Chrome OS for Mini 10v netbooks

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 30 Nov 2009 at 07:11

Dell's engineers have released a "highly experimental" version of the Google Chrome OS that runs on its Mini 10v netbooks.

Dell is one of the most high-profile backers of Windows alternatives on netbooks, having long offered Ubuntu as a pre-install option on selected models.

Now, the company appears to be turning its attention to Google's recently open-sourced Chrome OS. Writing on the Direct2Dell blog, Dell's Doug Anson claims to have adapted Chrome OS to run on Dell hardware after "some tinkering".

Boot time appears quick too - about 12 seconds from hitting the power button

"The Chromium browser is extremely fast and makes for a great web-centric browsing experience," Anson reports. "Boot time appears quick too - about 12 seconds from hitting the power button." Google claimed that boot times would be seven seconds or less when it revealed full details of Chrome OS earlier this month.

Anson has released the USB key image file of his Chrome installation, so that other Mini 10v owners can experiment with the operating system. However, he admits there are a number of issues with this "untested, unstable" build, including problems with the wireless card and the connection manager. Users also have to press the power button to reboot the USB image - there's no menu option to do so.

"Obviously, this image comes with absolutely no support of any kind and is to be considered highly experimental and completely unstable," Anson warns.