Dell has unleashed an experimental version of Google’s Chromium OS that runs on the PC maker’s Inspiron Mini 10v netbook. Chromium, released earlier that month, is Google’s open-source version of the Chrome OS based on the Linux kernel and aimed at netbooks.

Though the final product isn’t expected to hit the netbook market until next year’s holiday shopping season, Google decided to prepare the source cipher available to anyone wishing to create their own customized version of the Chromium OS. Taking up the challenge, Doug Anson, Dell’s Linux technology strategist, modified the cipher so the fledgling OS wirelessly accesses the World Wide Web on Dell’s Mini 10v.

“Without a network connection, Chromium OS is not very interesting,” Anson wrote in a recent blog. “With a network connection, Chromium OS shines.”

At Your Own Risk

Chromium OS is a small, optimized operating system whose purpose is to form it extremely simple and easy to browse the web, Anson

noted. “Boot instance appears quick, too — about 12 seconds from hitting the potential button,” Anson wrote.

However, Anson’s Chromium OS image file is squarely aimed at avid Linux experimenters, not consumers. “Use that image at your own risk — it comes to you totally unsupported and very minimally tested,” wrote Anson, who previously worked with Canonical to bring the Linux-based Ubuntu interface to Dell’s Mini 9 netbook.

Among other things, Anson’s 7.5GB USB key image file, which is currently available for download from Dell, does not include a shutdown/restart menu option. “To ‘reboot’ the image, you have to press the ‘power’ key on the Mini 10v,” Anson wrote.

Open-source developers additionally can expect to come across a number of issues along the way. As examples of potential problem areas, Anson cited the software’s connection manager and underlying components, which “can easily break or get hung. When in doubt, reboot and give…

Original post by dhiram