Gadgetory

if you love chrome the browser you're about to fall in love with chrome the operating system hi I'm Seth Rosenblatt frisina download.com and in this first look video I'll be showing you around Google's beta release of the Chrome OS there's not a whole lot new here Chrome OS feels and looks almost exactly like chrome the browser the cr-48 Google's demo notebook prototype of what consumers can expect in the summer of 2011 and the computer we've got here is powerful enough that the operating system wakes from sleep instantly currently Chrome OS is running the stable version 8 of the Chrome browser and that's expected to change as the browser updates extensions bookmark settings anything that you've synced in Chrome will be instantly available in Chrome OS the settings window has been expanded to accommodate the requirements of a full operating system although there doesn't seem to be a way to change the clock to 24 hours Chrome Web Apps play a big role in the Chrome OS the apps become essential quick links from your new tab window to your email your productivity suite notepad instant messaging video and voice calling and other programs that most people are used to being separate from the browser the Chrome Web Store link it gets you access to even more another nifty feature of the operating system is the logon procedure when you first open the laptop it asks for your Google username and password and then takes a photo of you with a dedicated webcam Chrome OS supports multiple accounts and has a guest account option that opens the entire OS in incognito mode Chrome's trackless browsing option the cr-48 laptop the only computer that currently ships with Chrome OS comes with keys that are indelibly tied to an operating system that's also a browser the function keys have been replaced with dedicated navigation buttons back forward refresh full screen and next window controls yes you can not only open a new browser tab but a new window as well the caps lock key has been replaced by a dedicated search key that opens a new tab and puts the cursor in the location bar you can change this back to caps lock if you're really into it there are a ton of hotkeys that have been mapped to this laptop and they make a huge difference hit ctrl alt mark to see an overlay map that reveals them all including ones for taking screenshots revealing the task manager and printing right now Chrome OS is only available on the CR 48 laptop of course you can download and install Chrome OS as open source parent chromium OS on most laptops or desktops for CNET with a first look at Chrome OS I'm Seth Rosenblatt