Less Is More in Google's OS

"Chromium OS" is the open-source version of the new Chrome OS that Google is developing for netbooks, tablets, and other lightweight machines. It's built from the source code that Google is making widely available, but it runs on standard hardware. Google's Chrome OS, in contrast, is designed to run on a new generation of stripped-down systems. These systems will probably be missing some of that legacy hardware necessary to run Windows, but will make up for this with a somewhat lower cost, lightning-fast boot times, and even some added security measures that will make them practically virus-proof.

You can download and run Chromium OS today if you know where to find it, but be careful. If you just Google for "chrome OS download," you'll probably end up with a modified version of Suse Linux--the "fake Google Chrome OS." Ironically this will run just fine on most netbooks, but you've got to be a Linux master to use it. You can edit files on the Web with Google Docs, or on the local computer with Open Office (which is included), but you need to keep track of where your documents are saved and manually move them back and forth. You can download and install cool programs from Linux software repositories, but there is always a chance that a program that you download might hack your system and steal your data. And you need to remember to run "software update" on a regular basis to install those security patches. In many ways the experience is quite similar to running Microsoft Windows or MacOS.

In contrast, the real Chromium OS is a completely different approach to operating systems. What you get is a whole lot less than a fine Linux distribution with a bunch of open-source software. Perplexingly, this ends up being a whole lot more useful, user-friendly, and secure.