Dell Amuses Mini 10V Netbook' Owners

Dell has made available a customized download of Google's Chromium OS (the open-source version of Chrome OS), specifically for its popular Mini 10V netbook.

Photo: Dell Amuses Mini 10V Netbook' Owners

Google discussed its upcoming operating system (OS) at a recent press event, and released the source code. Since then various builds of Chromium have surfaced online.

Dell made the customized download available Friday, giving all Mini 10V owners the perfect weekend project.

All which must be done in order to give Chromium OS a shot is a spare 8GB on a USB flash drive. Once downloaded, one simply should move the image onto the flash drive, plug it in-to their Mini 10V, and enjoy. It's worth noting that Dell's custom build is pre-beta and could be unstable.

Unfortunately early reports suggest that the Wi-Fi can act up; it may take up to 15 minutes to locate access points--ironic considering Chrome's Web-centric design. But as Google promised, the boot-up time is reportedly super fast, taking just under 12 seconds.

PC World  has contributed to the report.