Feeling lucky? Apply for a free Google netbook

Feeling lucky? Apply for a free Google netbook

Google on Tuesday threw open the doors on its Chrome OS project, which it had first unveiled 17 months ago. The goal - to build a lightweight operating system based on its Chrome browser - is nearing completion, though it will likely be another six months before you'll be able to buy products running the finished version.





That said, if your karma is strong and your cause is just, you might be able to convince Google to give you what amounts to a prototype of a netbook running a very beta copy of the Chrome OS.

Google has a pilot program that will give to an unspecified number of users a netbook dubbed the Cr-48. It's a very interesting machine.

There's no caps-lock key. Google said during its news event that this was aimed at comment trolls who TYPE IN ALL CAPS. As Gizmodo points out, you can still type in all caps if you have agile pinkies that can hold down the shift keys, but still ... Give Google some small credit for trying to made the Web a better-looking, less-angry place.

As Google indicated when it first announced the Chrome OS, the interface is very browser-based and many of the apps live on servers, not necessarily on your machine. Most data is stored online as well. And to showcase great Web apps that will run on Chrome and many other browsers, Google also launched its Chrome Web Store. Yes, you do need the Chrome browser to run a lot of the apps found there, but many will run on Safari and Firefox 4 as well. (Hey, Twitter users ... definitely check out Tweetdeck for Chrome!)

So you can stay connected as much as possible, Google has partnered with Verizon, and every Chrome OS device user will get a free 100-megabyte allotment of data via that carrier's 3G network. You can buy additional data for as little as $10 a month, with no contracts or activation fees.

Want to apply for one of these netbooks? If you're running Chrome, you may be invited to apply from a small notice at the top of a new tab page

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