The ALICE detector has been commissioned and is ready for taking data at the Large Hadron Collider. The first proton-proton collisions are expected in 2009, while nuclear beams are expected for 2010. In this paper, the ALICE experiment and its specificities in comparison with the other LHC experiments are shortly described, and the main goals of the first pp and PbPb runs discussed. The status of the detector will be reviewed and results from the 2008 and 2009 runs with cosmic rays and injected beams are discussed.