Sure, Chrome OS has been all over the headlines since early December. But it might not run on your hardware and you're going to have to wait at least a year for the final version. Why bother waiting?

Linux enthusiasts have been working on projects like this for years - fast booting, stripped-down distributions which offer the core functionality most users are looking for in a pinch: web browsing, music and video playback, photo management, and some basic games. 

Here are 11 options you can take for a spin right now...And since the Google Chrome beta version is available for Linux you can even run the browser that "is the OS" in most of these if you want!

 

Filed under: Linux, Beta

We've learned to be skeptical of Chrome OS rumors, but PC World picks up on a manufacturing news tip about at least one netbook manufacturer possibly installing "preview builds" of Google's Chrome Operating System and shipping those devices in late October. While we'd guess that the market for a thoroughly untested Chrome OS on non-name-brand netbooks would be fairly thin, if the report is accurate, we'd at least get to see the ideas behind Google's quick-loading system sooner rather than later. That said, drink this in with a huge grain of salt.

[PC World]

Windows/Mac/Linux: The official, actually-made-by-Google Chrome OS won't hit netbooks until late 2010, but you can try out a custom-built Linux distribution that's somewhat stripped down and puts Google's browser at the center of everything.

"Chrome OS" was built using SUSE Studio, a distribution and virtual appliance builder spawned from the OpenSUSE Linux distribution. It loads up with a Chrome icon, uses built-in webapp links to Google Calendar, Gmail, and other Google services as apps, and carries a copy of OpenOffice, just in case you need some straight-up desktop editing done. Most importantly, it holds the latest development copy of Google Chrome inside, along with a pre-built Flash plug-in.

Filed under: OS Updates, Google, Browsers