Tech Rine: Google Chrome OS Is Finally Here!

Google Chrome OS source code has been made live and is now available for everyone to download.
Google released the official Chrome OS source code minutes before it was going to launch the Chrome OS event where overview of the technology and launch plans for its launch next year will be revealed.
A Twitter update from Google employee Matt Cutts detailed where you can download the source code.

Chrome OS UI description

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we’re already talking to partners about the project, and we’ll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.

Screenshots

Google Chrome Os:First Glimpse

Google offered up everything but a finished Chrome OS today, releasing its source code and explaining how it's different than other operating systems. Here are the features, functions, and screenshots you'll want to know about.
Want the short version, sketched out on a notepad, uploaded as a video, and narrated with a carefree tenor?
Want the much more in-depth, screenshot-by-screenshot rundown of what was (not really) revealed? Check out Gizmodo's live-blogged announcement.

When, on what, and how much?

Google released Chrome OS' source code today, but one of Chrome's lead engineers, Idan Avraham, said a finished Chrome OS arrives "about a year from today." They took pains to note that Google itself won't be offering Chrome OS as a download to install on any system you have. They're developing Chrome OS for machines with "specific reference hardware," as their machines will boot directly from those machines and skip a lot of the hardware checking steps that standard operating systems run through.
The developers didn't offer pricing hints or targets from hardware partners. They did say, however, that they intend to "push" manufacturers to release netbooks with larger keyboards and mousepads, and crisper resolutions, and devices will be released "in the price ranges people see today."

How fast is it?

From a single boot-up shown on a livecast, and some live demonstration, pretty darned fast. The lead developer cited a seven-second boot-up to a universal sign-on screen on an eeePC, and then to the desktop after another four seconds. It does this by working on specialized firmware, written for hardware Chrome OS' developers work with, and relying on a Google Chrome browser written specifically for the Chrome OS. It's also written exclusively to run on solid-state, or non-hard-disk, drives, with a minimal amount of locally-stored data.

Downloads

Google Chrome Source Code