While the primary focus of the upcoming Google Chromium OS is the netbook form factor, this doesn’t mean Google isn’t considering other form factors for the browser-based OS. If you head on over to http://dev.chromium.org/chromium-os/user-experience/form-factors, you’ll find a variety of possible form factors for the Chromium OS – everything from tablets to laptops to desktop systems to large-screen displays. For each form factor, Google outlines the changes to the user interface one might expect with the Chromium OS.

On the netbook front, one would expect:

Fresh pictures of Google's Chrome Operating System running on a tablet computer are dominating high-tech talk today. Here's a glimpse:

People are anxious to see what Chrome OS can do. Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management at Google, said Chrome OS is slated to appear on netbooks first in the November-December 2010 timeframe.

There's already talk of an integrated media player running in the Chrome Web browser and OS.

Technologies that do in the browser what Microsoft has done with an on-premise download look attractive to a lot of people these days. Call it cloud envy.

Here is what one can do on a Chrome OS tablet:

So let's step back and consider the early, early airing of a Chrome OS user interface, on the Chromium developer Web site here by Google Chrome User Interface Lead Glen Larson.

First things first you will need to download Google Chrome OS Beta and Virtual Box.

Once you have downloaded the .ISO file and unzipped it you can create your virtual disk.

Step 1 – Name the Virtual Machine and set OS and type to other.

Step 2 – Set the base memory size(RAM) I used 1000MB NOTE: Go easy on this at first you can always bump it up later if need be

It’s only been a few days, but it feels like weeks since Google announced Google Chrome OS and stirred up the blogosphere and the imagination of techies and Microsoft haters everywhere. The response, the analysis, and the debate has been constant ever since. Can it beat Windows? Can it even run Photoshop?

Two days ago, we profiled the ongoing battle between Microsoft and Google, focusing on areas where the two companies compete. Almost everyone has framed Google Chrome OS as a direct competitor to Microsoft Windows. But I am about to argue that this is the wrong way to view Chrome OS.

Google’s goal isn’t to have the majority market share. The goal is to force you on the web more and for longer. Why? It’s all part of Google’s simple equation to monetize the world.

There’s a ton of buzz today about Google’s entry into the world of operating systems with the announcement of Google Chrome OS. While the OS itself won’t debut until next year, one forward thinking cartoonist essentially predicted that Chrome was Google’s “Windows killer” back in November ‘08, shortly after the Chrome Web browser first debuted.

The Italian cartoonist, Federico Fieni, cleverly portrays how Google first pondered how to challenge Windows, put its heads together, and ultimately devised Chrome. Who knew this cartoon would be so much more relevant just a few months later? Check it out:

Google dropped a major bombshell earlier this evening: they’re launching their own operating system, known as Google Chrome OS. The new operating system will be lightweight, is based of its Chrome browser, and is clearly Google’s challenge to Microsoft’s longstanding domination of the OS market.

While we’re still trying to catch our breath over the announcement, we can’t say we’re particularly surprised – the rumors have been bubbling for a long time now and projects like Android show Google has had an interest in this arena. But the Google OS leaves a lot of questions to be answered. How will it differ from Windows? How will it work? And most of all, can Google actually do what many consider impossible: beat Microsoft on its home turf?

Google’s Strengths

This paragraph from Google’s announcement helps clarify what Google is building into this operating system: