As expected, the development community has come to the rescue of the Galaxy Nexus, after Google announced that its 2011 Nexus wouldn't be getting updated past Android 4.3 to 4.4 KitKat – a couple of custom Android 4.4 ROMs are now available for the device, built from the Android 4.4 source that Google released right on the day of announcement of the new version of the OS.
For those unaware, Android 4.4 is one of the biggest upgrades Android has ever received, with a focus on improving performance and reducing RAM usage on devices with as low as 512MB devices, and other features like a new launcher with inbuilt Google Now (accessed by swipe to the right on the homescreen), better media features (with options such as closed captioning across the system), full screen mode for apps (similar to TouchWiz, with the status bar and navigation keys available with a swipe down from the top edge of screen), and more.
There are two ROMs available, and except for a few issues like animation and graphical glitches, most things seem to be working fine, though since these are early builds, you'll probably not want to use them as daily drivers. Head to the links below to take a look at the ROMs' details, and to start enjoying the sweet taste of chocolate-filled Android.
Download: A Taste of KitKat ROM | SlimKat ROM
