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Chrome Desktops (Apple) Google

Google Is Bringing Chrome OS To PCs and Macs (theverge.com) 84

Posted by BeauHD from the what's-old-is-new-again dept.
Google has announced a new version of Chrome OS called Chrome OS Flex, which is designed to run on old PCs and Macs. The Verge reports: The operating system can be installed "within minutes," according to Google's blog post. Google told me that Chrome OS Flex will look and feel identical to Chrome OS on a Chromebook -- it's built from the same code base and follows the same "release cadence." It did caveat that some features may be dependent on the hardware of the PC you're using. In fact, it said this for every specific feature I asked about, including always-on Google Assistant and Android phone syncing. So, if you're going to try this, keep an eye out.

If you want to try out Chrome OS Flex yourself, you can learn more on the Chrome Enterprise website. Note that the OS is still in early access mode, so you may encounter bugs -- you can boot it directly from a USB drive if you'd rather poke around before installing it on your machine.
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Google Is Bringing Chrome OS To PCs and Macs More

Google Is Bringing Chrome OS To PCs and Macs

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  • "Chrome OS Flex is free" (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Sebby ( 238625 ) on Tuesday February 15, 2022 @05:43PM (#62270877)

    From their website:

    Chrome OS Flex is free

    ... ", you are the product, and you agree to have your privacy raped by Google."

    • Re:"Chrome OS Flex is free" (Score:4, Insightful)

      by AleRunner ( 4556245 ) on Tuesday February 15, 2022 @05:51PM (#62270917)

      ... ", you are the product, and you agree to have your privacy raped by Google."

      Would be a great argument if it wasn't that the other people that charge for their operating systems also include "telemetry" which spies on you just the same. Paying for something is no guarantee that it won't spy on you. Hell, even Ubuntu at one point included spy features, though at least that's always been easy to turn off, in contrast to all the other commercial systems. At the same time we're just a few days from the story that Apple spied [slashdot.org] even on users that had deliberately opted out of spying.

      You have the choice, either put in the effort to get a personally locked down Linux distribution get your privacy taken by someone. It might not be very difficult to get the Linux distro set up right, but what proportion of people have the competence to know they did it right or be sure they are maintaining it afterwards?

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by hdyoung ( 5182939 )
        The difference with Apple is that I actually the issue you mention was truly a bug. Something Apple voluntarily reported and is trying (tried?) to fix. Apple makes no money spying on it’s users - they just charge an extra 100-400 bucks up front instead. A trade-off that I’m fine with. A bug that allows a privacy leak is very different than building an entire business model around harvesting and selling user data.
        • Google doesn’t do it, Microsoft doesn’t do it. Apple does.

          That is not a bug but an intentional feature they felt very proud of until they realised that they could not spin it with fancy marketing. It also has a gaping loophole as non-Apple users can upload what they like to iCloud Photos and not be subjected to it!

          I own both an iPhone and iPad, and to me, think different now means think twice.

        • A bug that allows a privacy leak is very different than building an entire business model around harvesting and selling user data.

          And that, gentle reader, is the difference that makes all the difference!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jvkjvk ( 102057 )

        >either put in the effort to get a personally locked down Linux distribution get your privacy taken by someone

        If you personally lock down a Linux distro I bet that your fingerprint would be so unique that you'll be easy to track anywhere.

      • Hm i used to use this tool called DWS (destroy windows spying) - but last time it just destroyed windows booting with it - probably something that got locked in the core which is labelled "essential telemetry" so it cant be removed without a component that disables the whole thing when removed - now this week on an offline linux pc i see firefox ( https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=... [linuxmint.com] ) giving about 100 errors in the console while im passing time with some lightweight afternoon tea coding for the un-educated ma

    • but does it need an Chrome Enterprise Upgrade per device to use most of it?

      can you use this as just an end user or do you need an Enterprise plan that starts at $6/mo user + Chrome Enterprise Upgrade fees per device.

      • You can use it as an individual with a free Google account, just as you can use a Chromebook that way. Gmail and the other Gapps will work. If you want to be part of a business workgroup you'll need a subscription, which usually costs money. There are some zero-cost and reduced-cost options for schools and nonprofits.

    • seems more like an free trial of an beta build
      as right now like windows and mac systems the OEM's are paying something per unit for Chrome OS.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Just like Linux then. Oh wait...

      Anyway, do you have any actual evidence to back up your claim? Like some captured packets showing the telemetry and that your preference not to enable it is ignored?

      With Microsoft they have published a list of telemetry and we have verified that the controls, limited as they are, work in the way Microsoft says they do.

    • that part wouldnt be too different from win-dos .... faile(d)-Os whatever its called, now also with Tracking Pour Maman and maybe even lighter but instead of 10.000 background processes i dont want and 500 apps i never use but cant remove - .... the question is : "does it run elden ring at 4K epic?"

    • you are the product, and you agree to have your privacy raped by Google.

      You are the product, and you agree to have your privacy raped by Microsoft.

      You are the product, and you agree to have your privacy raped by Facebook.

      You are the product, and you agree to have your privacy raped by [insert major American corporation name here].

      All corporate sociopaths seek to ass-rape the world. That's how they rise to the top of the food chain.

  • Yet another Linux distro... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by VeryFluffyBunny ( 5037285 ) on Tuesday February 15, 2022 @05:46PM (#62270887)
    ...to install on old hardware. Why use Google's dodgy spyware code when there are so many others that are truly free & open source?
    • This. Endlessly this.

    • Free is arguably a better deal than paying Microsoft for the privilege of Windows 10/11 telemetry.

      • Does anybody still pay for Windows? Besides the usual bundling shenanigans, Microsoft itself allows you to download a "preview" copy subject only to the annoyance of having to reinstall periodically. The trial timebomb last time I checked was quite generous, something like a month or so, before you need to "rearm" (I think that's what it was called).

        • Fair point. I suspect the overwhelming majority of people running Windows 11 got it free as a Windows 10 upgrade or it came preinstalled.

          Maybe the choice is between two free OSes that steal your personal information. With the difference that one runs a lot of the games and software you probably want. (hahaha, CrOS runs Android apps. it wins this round)

          I prefer low-B.S. operating systems like Linux. The main disadvantage is the analysis paralysis on which desktop environment is the most user-friendly to a pa

        • They pay for it indirectly when they buy a computer. Few people buy a retail Windows license. Individuals who do a DIY build, but many don't bother (you can run Windows 10 indefinitely without activating, though a few things like customizing the desktop won't work and you have to live with a watermark on the desktop) or buy a gray market license.
          • even when they buy a computer they don't usually pay for it, the bloatware that comes preinstalled generally pays for it.
    • I totally agree with this sentiment (typing on a linux machine), but the 2% desktop market share suggests it's still not popular with the general public . Hopefully fragmentation of the OS market share is a good thing as it will break the general mindset that PC == windows, spreadsheet == excel. letter writing == word.
      • I don't think any OS you have to download and install separately is ever going to be popular with the general public, the general public are just not comfortable with that, I doubt Chrome OS will be any different, if it didn't come with the machine then it aint going to be popular.
        • Some PC manufacturers, e.g. Dell, now offer Linux alternatives but mostly higher-end machines aimed at developers & pros. There's a growing number of countries around the world that are becoming more suspicious of Microsoft & Apple (data security, privacy, & national security issues), & so are looking into alternatives. A number of govt agencies in the EU already have switched or are proposing to switch to Linux, China has its own Ubuntu distro (Xylin), etc.. With Android now being politicis

    • ...to install on old hardware. Why use Google's dodgy spyware code when there are so many others that are truly free & open source?

      ^this, if you are trying to make old hardware usable their are infinitely better options that don't involve becoming googles bitch!

    • Re:Yet another Linux distro... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by quenda ( 644621 ) on Tuesday February 15, 2022 @10:06PM (#62271603)

      Why? This one is low-maintenance compared to Windows or Linux.

      I can put it on old PCs for friends or family, without fear of endless "tech support" calls.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        This. I got my Mum a Chromebook about 5 years ago and it's been flawless. Updates itself quietly and consistently, doesn't randomly break or present her with difficult to understand dialogues. My tech support burden went from weekly to zero.

    • Because after 3 decades of politics and infighting, most UNIX and Linux distros haven't figured out how to make an OS with a usable GUI and/or stable package management.

      Seriously, I've felt for a while that the Linux community would essentially hand over the desktop OS market to Google on a silver platter, and now that a desktop version of ChromeOS has been announced, it appears to be starting.

      Isn't it about time that we stopped living in denial, constantly blaming the user for being stupid, and instead sta

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Wolfrider ( 856 )

        > Because after 3 decades of politics and infighting, most UNIX and Linux distros haven't figured out how to make an OS with a usable GUI and/or stable package management

        --Oh, fuck off in the face of the evidence: XFCE and Debian (and its derivatives)

        • My Gentoo system (with Xfce) seems pretty usable and stable also, albeit I do consciously trade stability for newer software by allowing some packages, and hence generally their dependencies, to use ~amd64.

          The UI does what I need and otherwise stays out of my way. I occasionally try other desktop environments and window managers, but always end up going back to Xfce.

      • My plain old vanilla Ubuntu works fine. No more difficult than any other OS to use & definitely less hassle & more productive than using Windows.

  • This is it (Score:4, Funny)

    by jacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) on Tuesday February 15, 2022 @05:47PM (#62270895)

    This could actually really take off, Google is going to make an actual "Year of the Linux Desktop" and everyone is going to hate it.

    • Guess it is just a matter of time. Linux already "won" 2 out of 3 platforms:

      * [x] Top 500 Supercomputers
      * [x] Mobile (2+ Billion devices run Android)
      * [ ] Desktops

      It won't happen this year or the next but as Valve helps streamline Linux for gaming it will eventually happen.

  • Actually this might be useful (Score:5, Insightful)

    by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Tuesday February 15, 2022 @06:01PM (#62270943)

    Personally I'd probably just put a Linux distro on there, but it's definitely nice to have another option for people to keep their old laptop chugging along... There's probably not a whole lot of difference, privacy-wise, between using the Chrome browser and using Chrome OS - and tons of people keep using the Chrome browser.

  • But will it run on a pi?

  • Old Chromebooks (Score:4, Informative)

    by crow ( 16139 ) on Tuesday February 15, 2022 @06:11PM (#62270977) Homepage Journal

    This is also the solution for old Chromebooks. We had one that lost updates just a few months after getting it, not realizing that it was end-of-life. Now you can install this and get the current release even though the vendor won't update it anymore.

    • Google has its own EOL OS for Chromebooks: CloudReady.

      DC

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward
        It says this in their download page:
        "You can also check out CloudReady, a previous version of Chrome OS Flex, if you are interested in deploying a stable experience on PCs and Macs today."

    • will they let you do that? or will they lock it out?

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by crow ( 16139 )

        On my son's Chromebook, you had to take the bottom cover off and remove a screw. It's the restraining bolt that prevents it from booting unsigned operating systems. He wanted to install Linux on it. When he said he needed to take a screw out of his Chromebook, I thought he was crazy, but I looked at the page he found describing it, and it turned out to be completely real.

        • [Citation needed]

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by _merlin ( 160982 )

            Itâ(TM)s described here: https://www.chromium.org/chrom... [chromium.org]

            Throughout the history of Chrome OS devices, three main methods have been implemented for asserting (and removing) write protect:

            • Switch - a toggle switch asserts WP to the SOC firmware SPI ROM and EC. WP can be deasserted by disassembling the device and flipping the switch.
            • Screw - a screw shorts a pad on the PCB. While this screw is inserted, WP is asserted. WP can be deasserted by disassembling the device and removing this special screw.
            • cr5 [googlesource.com]
            • Pretty good approach to the security vs device ownership debate. Removal of a screw is a very intentional act and unlikely to be done by someone just for shits and giggles.

    • Not for my 2013 Pixel. It runs Kubuntu just fine.

  • Schools (Score:4, Interesting)

    by crow ( 16139 ) on Tuesday February 15, 2022 @06:16PM (#62270993) Homepage Journal

    Many schools use Chromebooks, and this is a great solution for donated laptops, especially since it means no worries about licensing.

  • and how easy is it to add drivers for hardware?
    Like wifi cards / chips / usb sticks?
    ATI video?
    NVIDIA video?
    firewire?
    4g / 5g / 3g chips / cards / usb sticks
    Bluetooth chips / cards?
    other stuff found in some laptops?
    ide / sata chipsets?
    bios mode?
    uefi mode?

  • macs? so it works with apples boot camp?

  • Windows virtual machines not support & Linux limited to some of the Certified models list (I hope it's just on system that don't have bios level VM support)
    But if this just on Certified models just wait for MS to bully OEM's to kill this.

  • Google bought CloudReady in 2020 which is a Chrome OS Linux Distro. I'm sure they're just rebranding it and adding the tracking algorithms.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mccalli ( 323026 )
      Ah - that makes sense. I used that to try it out in a VM to see what it was like. Honestly, it's not awful and I can see it serving a lot of people just fine. Spyware yes, but then so is Windows these days.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jabuzz ( 182671 )

      Dam where are mod points when you want them. Yep basically this is the CloudReady version of ChromiumOS from Neverware getting Google branding and likely tracking added in. There was a Slashdot article not that long ago where the hotel chain Nordic Choice recovered from a ransomware attack by deploying CloudReady to all their old Windows machines in a couple of days. For many many users ChromeOS provides all they need to do there job with a lower security risk than Windows.

  • so they still have an time where they drop from the support list and likey windows and linux will have an more even cut off point then this.

  • I've a Chromebook that's perfectly functional...just utterly unsafe now because the O/S hasn't seen a security patch in 2 years, and the browser version is old enough that there's some modern tech features around css, js, and PWAs that I don't have.

    Rather than worry about doing this to an old PC, I'd rather just get that Chromebook functional again.

    • I've a Chromebook that's perfectly functional...just utterly unsafe now because the O/S hasn't seen a security patch in 2 years, and the browser version is old enough that there's some modern tech features around css, js, and PWAs that I don't have.

      Rather than worry about doing this to an old PC, I'd rather just get that Chromebook functional again.

      This is most likely going to be based on Neverware's Cloudready Chromium OS. I too have old Intel based Chromebooksthat became EOL, I flashed a Bios on them from MrChromebox and installed Cloudready on them. And yes they became functional chromebooks again that got security updates without the chrome branding.

  • yet another OS I can but won't run on my PC's cause it does not support the applications (not apps or clown based), too bad, I would have been interested 10 years ago before the thing was near death

  • You can view (and delete) what Google knows about you at https://myactivity.google.com/ [google.com].

    You can download some or all of the data Google has on you at https://takeout.google.com/ [google.com].

    You can change your Google privacy settings (include autodeleting your activity after X months) at https://myaccount.google.com/d... [google.com]

  • ... drops it like so many other projects they've released in the last decade or so?

    Let the betting begin!

  • This is a win (Score:5, Interesting)

    by nashv ( 1479253 ) on Tuesday February 15, 2022 @11:21PM (#62271713) Homepage

    I am liking this:

    1. Wine allows Linux to run Win32 applications
    2. WSL allows Win32 to run Linux applications
    3. WSA allows Win32 to run Android applications
    4. Crostini allows Chrome OS to run Linux
    5. Chrome basically allows Linux/Win32 to run ChromeOS

    I look forward the day when the choice of OS becomes irrelevant for running applications.

    • Few years back, somebody told the world your internet browser will be your OS. Thankfully, not everything is a web application yet.
  • I've installed it on an old celeron laptop. Works nice and fast. I'll see how the linux vm works...

  • I use Galliumos linux on my old chromebook. I mainly use my chromebook as an RDP client or watching youtube, which it does fine at after upgrading to a later version of chrome.

    I had to remove the write protect screw, use mrchromebox.tech website to flash the UEFI firmware, then installed Galliumos linux.

    • Oh, and for me, during install I had to skip setting up the network, to avoid doing updates during initial install of Galliumos linux, as it would hang. After install, then updates went through just fine.

    • I started with that because it had all the instructions, compatibility chart, firmware etc. But Ubuntu works just as well. Once you flash the bios you just have a generic laptop, with a small SSD. An SD card takes care of that.

  • How about I decline putting dodgy software on my old Mac.
  • As excited as I am about this . . . I'm going to wait for an OS consisting only systemd, gnome3 and emacs . . .

  • Does this mean Neverware CloudReady gets the official Chrome browser or are we all left in the lurch?

  • Why not install Linux straight? No screwing around by goog.

    (Waiting for the trolls who've never actually tried to use a Linux desktop talking about how haaaard it is.)

    • I've used desktop Linux for 25 years and never found a distro that doesn't break its updates eventually. Some kind of dpkg/rpm/emerge/pacman conflict eventually shows up. Nobody cares because the devs know how to fix it and you can find out about tricky ones on the bug tracker.

      Some people report Mint never complains but the Boomers I know with Mint wouldn't know otherwise.

      So if you're just making a web device, ChromeOS is probably a good choice for normal people.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by whitroth ( 9367 )

        Been running Linux as a desktop for about 20+ years, haven't had the "desktop" break in a way that reinstalling the last update (or backing off an update) didn't fix.

  • I've got a Gen 1 Surface pro sitting around that has become pretty much unusable hopefully this can bring it back to life as a media consumption device.

  • Google bought Neverware, a company that was doing Chromium OS-based builds for non-Chromebooks, in 2020. This really isn't a new idea, it's just a repackaging of what Neverware was doing.

    One of the big gotchas is how long systems will be supported. I was a supporter of the Chromebook idea when they first came out, but then Google announced the support policy that says that Chromebooks are supported for at most seven years, and that is counted from when any system with the same processor was released. Many o

  • Google has been profiting from Chromium and Chromium OS development while restricting access to the API-Keys needed to make it work fully. I've been running a 7 year old laptop with Chromium OS in guest mode, and it works fine as a thin client for surfing and playing limited games. But a version of Chrome OS that runs on limited hardware, and comes with a fully functional version of Chrome, would be much more useful than installing Linux with crippled open source browsers that won't stream video or audio fr

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