Nobody roll in the hay incisively what Google ’s upcoming Chrome OS will look or act like , but we ’ve got apretty good ideaof what they ’re survive for . Here ’s how to exist out Google ’s online - only OS vision , right now
https://gizmodo.com/giz-explains-what-the-hells-google-chrome-os-5310406
Before we plunk in , it ’s worth talking about on the button what we ’re go for here . What “ theory of Chrome ” are we planning to adhere to ? Or perhaps more to the point , what the underworld is Chrome ? From Google :
“ Google Chrome OS is an open root , lightweight operating organization that will ab initio be targeted at netbooks ” and “ most of the user experience takes place on the WWW . ” That is , it ’s “ Google Chrome running within a fresh windowing system on top of a Linux core ” with the internet as the political program . It runs on x86 processors ( like your standard Core 2 yoke ) and ARM CPU ( like inside every mobile smartphone ) . Underneath lie certificate computer architecture that ’s completely redesigned to be virus - resistive and easy to update .
From our ownMatt Buchanan :
If I had to infer , I ’d say Chrome OS is somewhere in between an only internet browser - based OS and a generic Linux distro , though leaning toward the former .
In other words , Chrome , as we sympathise it , and as Google describes it , is a Linux bone that lives on the vane , calculate almost entirely on Google ’s suite of services , which are swear out through a special , Google - design interface . We have no room of experience what this mysterious window manager , carte system or background environment will look like , so we ca n’t replicate that . The web half of Chrome OS , though , is already in place , and quick for us to clumsily mingle . So , we ’ll make our own stripped - down operating system . Here ’s how :
Get Yourself Some Linux
Before embarking on this sappy afternoon software project , we need a launch area . Specifically : Linux . You could go with almost any distro and execute the same effect , but this scout will be focused on a dispersion called Xubuntu . Why Xubuntu ? Because it happen upon a perfect residuum between being extremely compatible and leisurely to install — on both counts , it really is — and , since it ’s basically just a version of the uber - popular Ubuntu Linux distro with a stripped - down , super - immobile desktop environment call up XFCE , it ’s quick , and lightweight . Anyway , head up over the theXubuntu websiteand start download . ( Go with 9.04 the latest stable version . )
There are a few ways to handle this . If you ’re planning to install Xubuntu on a netbook — Chrome ’s first and most raw target — you’re probably going to need to make a bootable flashbulb drive . Ubuntu provides some fairly fantastic instructions for doing this onWindows , Linux and Mac OS X. If you ’re essay to do this on a regular laptop or background , or you have an outside ocular drive , you ’re going to require to fire your downloaded ISO to a CD and instal from there . Alternately , you canorder a free install discfrom Xubuntu . last , if you ’re like me , and you just want to prove this out in a free virtual car likeVirtualBox , all you need to do is bring up a new system from your downloaded ISO . At any rate :
During the facility , you ’ll be prompted with a number of selection . verify to tick off the “ access Automatically ” radio box — it’ll make your boot - to - internet browser experience a little fluent later on .
Once you ’ve finished the installation — this should take no more than a half - hr , really — you’ll find yourself with a pretty , fresh new Xubuntu desktop . It ’s really nice ! But now , it ’s time to start replacing it .
take Your internet browser
So obviously , you ’ll need a browser app . This is the center of the Chrome experience — the window through which you ’ll get at Google ’s retinue of services , and which you may never leave . It needs to have funding for all the web ’s various technology , be it Google Gears — a plugin that let Google services store information offline , so they can lade quicker and function offline — or Flash , which urinate the net significantly less boring . Chrome O will ship with Google ’s Chrome internet browser , obviously , but theLinux portis a little sickly flop now . gearing , for example , does n’t really work decent now , and Flash , though technically available , crash invariably . But if you really want to quell as Googly as potential on this project , you’re able to get Chrome for Linux ( Chromium , it ’s called ) by adding these lines to the “ Sources ” inclination in a program called Synaptic , which deal Linux applications through one , co-ordinated interface , and is accessible in your organization card .
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb - src http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu jaunty chief
you could find out how to enable Flashhere . Pro bakshis : do n’t bother with this .
Counterintuitively , the good way to get the Google experience on Linux is with Firefox . Xubuntu comes with Firefox , but you ’re going to need to tittivate it up a little . Ok , a circle .
Make That browser app Work
First , you ’ll call for Flash . Open Synaptic — advert above — from your Applications > system of rules menu , and research for an item called “ Flashplugin , ” ( it ’s Flash Player 10 ) or pilot to the item as shown in the below screenshot .
Click “ Apply ” and let the installer work its course . Now , Firefox should endorse sites like YouTube , Pandora , et al .
Now , you ’ll postulate Google Gears . This is a simple Firefox extension , which you may downloadhere . This ’ll help make last online feel a small less like , you know , endure online — think offline archived email . Most of Google services can use Gears , so you ’ll want to go through each site ’s mise en scene paginate to enable as many “ Gears ” or “ Offline Access ” pick as possible . Docs and Mail are where you ’ll see the biggest differences , since Gears plow them from WWW services into full - feather offline apps , transparently . Pretty amazing stuff , and one of the few features we know will be in Chrome OS .
Next , you ’ll require the Google Toolbar . This , in absence seizure of whatever user interface fetich Google is sitting on , will serve as a kind of constant dashboard for Google services in the meantime . Along with furnish shortcuts and notifiers for inspection and repair like Gmail and Googel Caldner , it ’s got a few little tricks that ’ll make your web web browser feel more like a right OS . For example : in the Google Toolbar druthers , you may check choice that enable both automatonlike Gmail - ing or Mailto : tie-in , and automatic opening of many document formats in Google Docs . You ’ll want to enable these , since we ’re attempt to make the illusion that the rest of the OS does n’t exist , which an errant OpenOffice window or email guest could shatter , God forbid .
Lastly , grab yourself a copy of anextension called Speed Dial , which will give you a Grid - free-base homepage of favorites which you may dwell with all the sum Google Services you ’re die to need — Gmail , Reader , Google Docs , Google News , etc — and which will be the first affair you see when you open your web browser app , and eventually , your type O . Set the initial configuration as I have on the left .
And if you ’re really into this theme for some reason , you’re able to download a Firefox skin that looks like Google Chromehere .
Getting Rid of Everything Else
Now that you ’ve got everything you need to live all within Google ’s ecosystem , a la Chrome OS , you need to take out everything else — that intend excess web web browser clutter , system menus , and somewhat much anything else that stands between you and your Google suite .
The first dance step will be to discase out your Firefox interface , which is probably take care a bit bloated by now . I ’ve post my little - screened solution below , which you could reduplicate by dragging and drop icons however you please in Firefox ’s View > Toolbars > Customize carte du jour . The above configuration lets you totally remove the Bookmarks and Navigation bars , which saves a unspoilt good deal of space . experience free to play with this for a while — you might find that you do n’t need one stimulant box or the other , or that you could get away with much less of an interface than I have .
After grinding down Firefox ’s interface to an satisfactory size , you ’ll need to go to work on your desktop . Before you’re able to drink down all the carte bars and shortcuts you do n’t call for , you ’ll need to make indisputable Firefox automatically loads at startup , so you ’re basically boot into the web browser . you’re able to do this by voyage to Applications > preferences > Session and Startup , and adding a new startup point with the note value take in below . ( The last one if the only one you ca n’t exchange — it ’s the one that launches Firefox ) .
Now , it ’s clock time to murder everything else . justly - tap either the top or bottom organisation panel — the Start Menu - like things on the top and bottom of your background — and click “ Customize Panel . ” From here , you could remove the top dialog box , and set the bottom panel to “ autohide . ” Once you ’re done , re-start . Upon flush - up , this is about all you should see :
receive to Chrome ! Kind of !
See What You Think
As I said before , what you ’ve just slapped together here is not Chrome , and Google ’s final product will probably look nothing like this , superficially . But this little WWW - savvy Frankenstein O does , I think , capture something of Google long - term visual sense , in which everything we store , utilize and experience on our figurer is base online — sooner on their servers — and native applications are nothing more than a little , necessary evil . This experimentation is less about guess the specific of Chrome OSes port , under - the - hood workings or usage mannikin ( three things which I ’m fairly sure this fails at ) than it is about decide whether or not the the idea of Chrome OS suits you , and how you utilize your computer . That , at least , you’re able to get a taste of . So , how do you wish it ?
FirefoxGoogleGoogle ChromeHow ToLinuxOperating systems
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