As planned, Google showed Chrome OS to the world for the first time earlier today. The unveiling came hand-in-hand with the release of the operating system's source code under the Chromium OS project, which allows anyone to grab the code, modify it, build it, and run it. Google doesn't seem to have released a pre-built distribution, though.

Laymen might not be able to grab Chrome OS and use it just yet—the public launch isn't scheduled until a year from now—but Google has given everyone enough to salivate over. For starters, the company has revealed the OS's user interface, which places the web browser at the center of the user experience

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