Tag: chrome

Categories
Google

Google Chrome OS – Pre-Beta Computers, Pilot Program and Availability.

Last year, Google announced their effort towards designing an operating system that is built and optimized for the web. Yesterday, in a limited presence of the press, they announced that Chrome OS is not available for consumers yet., but Chrome OS is at the stage where they need feedback from real users.

Some of the features of Chrome OS require new hardware. Instead of selling pre-beta computers, they’re launching a pilot program where they will give test notebooks to qualified users, developers, schools and businesses. The Pilot program is starting with the U.S. and will expand to other countries. To participate in the pilot program, apply here.

The test notebooks exist only to test the software—they are black, have no branding, no logos, no stickers, nothing. They do have 12.1 inch screens, full-sized keyboards and touch pads, integrated 3G from Verizon, eight hours of battery life and eight days of standby time. Chrome notebooks are designed to reach the web instantly, are easy to share among friends and family, and simply by logging in, all of your apps, bookmarks and other browser settings are there. Setting up a new machine takes less than a minute.

Google claims that, even at this early stage, there is no consumer or business operating system that is more secure.

In the first half of next year Chrome notebooks will be available for sale from Acer and Samsung. More manufacturers will follow. Also, Chrome OS is designed to work across a wide range of screen sizes and form factors, enabling their partners to deliver computing devices beyond notebooks.

Some of the key features of the Chrome OS –

Instant web – Chrome notebooks boot in about 10 seconds and resume from sleep instantly. Favorite websites load quickly and run smoothly, with full support for the latest web standards and Adobe Flash.

Same experience Everywhere – All apps, documents, and settings are stored safely in the cloud. So even if you lose your computer, you can just log into another Chrome notebook and get right back to work.

Always connected – Integrated Wi-Fi for home and work, and 3G for all the places in between.

Built-in Security –Chrome notebooks use advanced technology to help prevent malware and viruses from accessing your data. And you never have to lift a finger.

Web Apps – Every Chrome notebook runs millions of web apps, from games to spreadsheets to photo editors. Try the latest apps from the Chrome Web Store or just type URLs into the address bar – no CDs required.

Courtesy: Google Chrome Pilot Program

Categories
Google

Google Chrome OS to be made available, by this year-end!

Chromium OS is an open-source project that aims to build an operating system that provides a fast, simple, and more secure computing experience for people who spend most of their time on the web. Google first announced Chrome OS, a cloud-focused operating system back in July last year. It looked a little unrealistic at that time, but now things seemed to have changed.

According to Chrome developer forums the current version of Chrome OS is labelled as a release candidate and a final version looks likely to be released by year-end. In a statement published on the TechCrunch site Google said: “We are very happy with the progress of Google Chrome OS and expect devices will be available later this year. We’ll have more details to share at launch.”

Google has so far said that Chrome OS will not be generally released for download but will be shipped on specific hardware devices from its partners.

For more information on Google Chromium Open Project, check this – http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os.

Technically, Chromium OS consists of three major components: The Chromium-based browser and the window manager, Firmware, System-level software and user-land services: the kernel, drivers, connection manager, and so on.

Overview of Chromium OS

Categories
General Google Microsoft

How to use Google Chrome Browser Extensions on Windows?

Google has always been proactive in making the browser more user-friendly. Extensions are the first step towards this initiative from Google. One important note for the Google team was to make extensions easy to create and maintain, while preserving Google Chrome’s speed and stability (Speed of access being Chrome’s USP).

Extensions on Google Chrome accomplishes all these goals: they are as easy to create as web pages, easy to install, and each extension runs in its own process to avoid crashing or significantly slowing down the browser.

If you’re on a Windows or a Linux machine, you can check out more than 300 extensions in the gallery, including a few cool, useful and cute extensions.

Step 1: Launch your Chrome Browser, and goto the URL https://chrome.google.com/extensions, If you get the below error message, then you will need to install the latest build of Google Chrome from http://www.google.com/landing/chrome/beta/

Cherror

Step 2: Once you install the latest version fo the browser, you can see the website, which lists all the popular extentions available for use.

chrome_extensions

Step 3: Select the Extension you need (In this example, I am choosing the Gmail Notifier)

Gmail_extension

Step 4: Click on Install and Accept the Confirmation

confirm_extension

Gmail_extension_appearsClicking on Install will download the extension and add it to your browser. (You will be able to see the extension, next to the address bar – As this is a Gmail notifier, you will need to login initially to get a track of your mails)

This completes the Installation of the Chrome Extensions.

You can manage the extensions using the Browser Settings Tab:
menu

You will be able to see the list of Extensions which are installed on your browser, you can choose to enable or disable them as per your needs.

 summary

An extension system has been one of the most requested features for Google Chrome. It’s a tribute to Mozilla and the Firefox project that nowadays, users just expect all browsers to have built-in extensibility!!

Users can install and uninstall them quickly without restart, and extensions have a great polished look that fits in with Google Chrome’s minimalist aesthetic. When developers upload an extension it is available to users immediately, with limited restrictions and manual reviews only in a few situations.

Speaking on the Technical Enhancements, Chrome Extensions uses the Google Chrome’s multiprocess architecture to help keep extensions stable and safe. And Chromium’s extensive performance monitoring infrastructure has helped to ensure extensions affect Google Chrome’s speed as little as possible. You can learn more details about the internals of our system in the videos below.

Extensions aren’t quite beta-quality on Mac yet, but you will be able to preview them on a developer channel soon. And if you’re a web developer, you can learn more about writing extensions for Google Chrome on the Chromium blog.