Google will not offer installable version of Chrome OS

Starting on June 15th you’ll be able to go out and buy a notebook running Chrome OS. But you won’t be able to download an official Chrome OS build and install it on your own laptop anytime soon.

Google already offers most of the source code for its browser-based operating system, and some developers regularly compile that code and make installable versions avaialble for download. But speaking at the Google I/O developer conference, Google representatives said there are no plans to officially offer an installable version of Chrome OS.

That’s partly because the company is working closely with hardware partners including Acer and Samsung so that the operating system is tied into the notebook firmware. A downloadable, installable version of Chrome OS wouldn’t offer the same security features, for instance.

Posted on Wednesday, May 11th, 2011, 7:01 pm by Brad Linder | 6 Comments

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I found this site that you can download the OS, and also includes an image writer that will write to a USB device. I’ve been running Chrome-os for 2 days now, and it is great!
thanks for the information about google….
http://www.facebook.com/mr.e.cameron Earl Cameron

i call bs, google is showing their evil side!
http://liliputing.com/ Brad Linder

Well, they’re not preventing anyone from compiling the OS from source and installing on their own. I’d say this is more chaotic neutral than evil.
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Quanah Harjo

There are several features in Google’s built Chrome OS that require specific hardware, like the verified boot sequence. Also, the kernel is fairly pared down to just the hardware that Google is currently supporting and disk I/O is optimized for SSD use. So…Google is more or less protecting Chrome OS’ image of being fast and stable by pulling an Apple and controlling the hardware destinations.

At least Chromium OS is open, but you lose a couple of features like auto-update unless whoever did the build is supporting it themselves.

Google will not offer installable version of Chrome OS

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