I see Chromebook as the evolution of the netbook, its what i believe netbook should have been from the start… The problem now is that Google has made a late entry into the market… With the tablets taking over the vacume that exsisted between the Smart Phones and Laptops, one would consider opting for the lighter tablet… Additionally this is not a device that would take over the laptop as it does not offer any different functionality that you can already achieve with a laptop… The next issue which needs to be pointed out is that it is a web-centric device, so users are required to be constantly connected to the net to achieve its full potential…

Price is also a issue… At $350 to $500 its at a similar price to a full fledged netbook… Now, if the Chromebook was $100, or even $200, it might be easier to make a case for the value it provides… But, the Chromebook is basically a handicapped netbook that costs the same or more than some other netbooks that have much greater capabilities…

Unsurprisingly, the question came up once again at Google I/O last week. During a panel with a bunch of engineers on the Chrome team, it was one of the first questions asked. The response? “It’s not something we’re talking about right now.” Ouch.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” the engineered continued. Okay…

Another team member, probably realizing those answers sounded both cryptic and harsh, chimed in. “The important thing at the end of the day is to make browsers better. While it’s not strictly Chrome, we share a lot of code with the Android team. We’ll share more over time.” Okay, that’s better. Still, a bit odd.

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A group of Dell engineers announced Chromium on Friday of last week, outlining that it will be made available via a free and simple download for use alongside Dell’s popular Mini 10v ultra portable Netbook.

The version from Dell can be downloaded (8GB memory stick needed) and does function with Wi-Fi or wired connections. A couple of problems with this version is that wireless takes from 5 – 10 minutes to actually start working, although it does work.

When running Chrome OS from a USB key rather than a virtualised version running in VMWare, it runs far better and gives insight in to how the OS could function next year when launched. The OS it’s self is far from being finished and there isn’t much support out there yet, but it is functional now with the right hardware. If you have a Mini 10 and a spare 8GB USB Flash drive then check out Dell’s community blog for full instructions on how to install the Chrome OS.

The main focus of Google with this new OS has being on Speed, Simplicity and Security.

It takes about 7 seconds to to go the log-in screen. And another 3 seconds to log in to your application. Now this is called speed. Google is still working on making it faster.

All data of Chrome OS is in the cloud. So every application is a web application. There are no native applications. This is what gives it simplicity.

As on data is on the machine it self, if you lose your machine, you just get a new one, and it works. As everything is a web app, the system is secure but not fully secure. If any application is in danger of being corrupted by malware, Chrome has been designed to reboot itself, after which a clean version of the OS is downloaded. Nearly all user data will be stored in the Google’s cloud computing service and will be encrypted and sychronized constantly between the netbook and the cloud.

I would post a detailed review as soon as i test it out.

If you want to try it out you can you can download a VMware build directly from web site gdgt or the image is also available on Pirate Bay.

You can go through various FAQ on the Google Chrome Blog.

Looks like Santa(Google ) is gonna give us an early Christmas gift this year… If rumors are believed Google is set to release Chrome OS in the coming week..

The Chrome OS news comes courtesy of Techcrunch which cites that it was obtained from a reliable source. An early version of the OS was scheduled for launch this fall, as Google put it previously. The development was initially revealed in July this year.

Chrome OS is Google’s attempt to “rethink what operating systems should be.” It’s an open source, “lightweight” operating system to be initially targeted at netbooks.  The novel OS architecture is said to be simple and runs with ARM chips and x86. Designed around a Linux core, this OS is an extension of the Google Chrome browser and will hopefully be as bug-free, speedy and lightweight as promised.

The web becomes the platform for developers writing for Chrome, as web technology such as AJAX creates the entire user interface. Local storage can also be utilized through Google’s “Google Gears”, which is already in action on Gmail and Google Docs, allowing users to archive their online data.

Just how reliable Michael Arrington’s sources are will become known this week.