As I wrote last Friday, Google released it’s Chrome OS to the Open Source Community.  The idea is that from that day, developers are invited to ‘chip-in’ with their innovative ideas, to build and to create what it will become the Chromium OS which will be release to the public at the same time next year.

If you are happened to be a talented developer with lots of idea, you can join Chromium.org and start developing.

But if you are just want to see it running, fret not, because apparently some nice and brave people had managed to build a working version, so that we could also enjoy it.

Most of the solutions out there are requiring us to download a ready-made package of the OS, and install it through a Virtual Machine, which is available for all platforms, including Windows, Mac and Linux.  There is also another way that enables you to install and run the OS in a USB Disk (which I must admit very geeky and cool).

Here are the resources where you can the step-by-step written instructions, or if you are a visual person, you can watch also the How-To Video. Enjoy!

• VMWare Image for GDGT: GDGT was the first major website that has a working version of Chrome OS that I know of.  Indeed these downloads are used as a base for other projects below.
• Techcrunch has a Step-By-Step Guide to install Chrome OS useing Virtual Box.
• RedmondPie.com has a guide to install Chrome OS in Windows 7.
• Engadget has a Video tutorial on How to Run Chrome OS.
• SkatterTech.com has also a video on how to install Chrome OS via VirtualBox.
• MakeUseOf.com has a guide on how to run Chrome OS from a USB Drive.
• Liliputing reported that Dell has put together Chrome OS distro for its Dell Mini 10V machine.

Updated: If you want to run Chrome OS ‘right now’, check out my follow-up post here.

Many people were shocked when back in July this year, Google announced that they were working on an alternative Operating System (the piece of software which gives our computer hardware a soul), dubbed the Chrome OS!  What! Somebody is making Operating System, and it’s not Microsoft or Apple?! That was what’s on many people’s mind.
In one sense though, this shouldn’t be a big surprise for us, because if there is one entity who can challenge Microsoft or Apple domination in Operating System arena, it would be Google.

The most interesting thing about this Chrome OS is that it is based on an Internet Browser (in this case Google’s own Chrome Browser), and that the code will be an Open Source Project.  This means that, like Linux, and unlike Windows or Mac OS, people like you and me would be able to contribute to the development of this Operating System (provided that you understand programming of course).

So, what is Chrome OS? The following video will give you a basic understanding of what it’s all about.

Yesterday, the 19th of November, Google finally announced that they are releasing the Chrome OS to the public!
Here is the video from the Release Event:

And here is the demo of the Chrome OS running:

Google’s goal is to release Chrome OS to the mass by this time next year. In the mean time, you can sign-up here to get notified when it’s coming.  Or if you want to get involved in the development yourself, check out Chromium.org.

Or, if you want to see it running and play around with it now, the team at GDGT.com has managed to get it running, and you can download it for free. The only thing is you need to have VMWare Player (Fusion for Mac) or VirtualBox to run it.

Here is more video on some UI concept for the Chrome OS:

Today I was reading one of my favourite feed, The Next Web, and they posted a news on Google Calendar getting its own labs features.

I believe the roll-out has been staggered, so I went to mine and check, to see if I’ve got it.

And here they are: