from Hacker News

Google Release Chrome OS Flex

by BoumTAC on 2/15/22, 6:46 PM with 156 comments

  • by jsnell on 2/15/22, 10:40 PM

    Creating the installation media via a Chrome Extension sure is a wonky process.

    First try: can't actually do it from Linux Chrome, has to be Windows/Mac/Chromebook.

    Second try, on Windows: Extension downloads the image. Windows asks if I want to allow Chrome to make system changes. Then Chrome crashes.

    Third try, on the same machine: The exact same image is downloaded again. The progress bar for unpacking the image goes to 250%, and -15 seconds remaining. Writing the USB stick finally works.

    The extension is able to write raw data to a USB device, which seems like rather privileged hardware access. But there is nothing in the permissions section of the extension suggesting there is anything special about it. That seems really strange.

    (It was just creating the image that was odd. Once that was done, everything was smooth on a Windows 8-era Samsung laptop.)

  • by ben1040 on 2/15/22, 8:27 PM

    This sounds like the continuation of Neverware, which they acquired at the end of 2020.

    https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/12/google-acquired-neve...

  • by tomComb on 2/15/22, 8:04 PM

    Glad to see that this is pure web: will not include support for android apps.

    Kind of ironic that Microsoft is going to the step of taking googles android and hacking it onto windows, while Google is not adding android to (this version of) their OS. Not exactly sure what the irony is actually, but it’s in there somewhere.

  • by jsight on 2/15/22, 8:30 PM

    The annoying thing is that they can do this, but they won't offer some sort of extended support for old chromebooks. It seems like they could at least keep the user layer up to date and ship patches for critical vulnerabilities.

  • by iddan on 2/15/22, 8:13 PM

    Finally! I remember installing Chromium OS on my netbook back in 2011 and I always felt like a supported build from Google has so much opportunity to renovate old computers

  • by eugenekolo on 2/15/22, 8:40 PM

    Will this version, like regular ChromeOS support a Linux Subsystem (Crostini)?

    I've recently played a bit with a Chromebook I have for work, best I can describe it is as "ok". It's kind of fun to be able to write emails, or journal/blog in Google Docs. I really can't see how I would recommend it to anybody really with just that ability. Even non-tech people like to download the occasional program, and not everything is on the web. The Chromebook is able to run Android apps which makes it slightly more useable (Looks like ChromeOS Flex cannot?).

    The ability to run Crostini makes it more developer friendly. I was able to set up Android Studio, Python, Gcc, and it's a fairly decent on-the-go dev machine... I don't live such a nomadic lifestyle, but I can see it being pretty fun if you do.

  • by notyourday on 2/15/22, 8:28 PM

    This is a much more interesting technical summary:

    https://support.google.com/chromeosflex/answer/11547280?hl=e...

  • by madjam002 on 2/15/22, 8:30 PM

    Seriously considering trying this with some of my family members. Windows 10 is such a user hostile OS especially to non-techie people that every time I look at their PC their documents have moved to some new OneDrive location or Edge has reinstalled itself.

  • by smallerfish on 2/15/22, 8:36 PM

    I hope they've spun up a support organization to back this. Their list of "supported" hardware is pretty thin right now. Are they really planning to scale this to all models?

    https://support.google.com/chromeosflex/answer/11513094#zipp...

  • by zinekeller on 2/15/22, 8:32 PM

    > Reduce e-waste and extend the life of your existing devices by transforming them with a modern OS.

    Flies in the face of many functional Chromebooks/Chromeboxens losing support (https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366). Extend the support lifetimes of your first-party hardware and I'll believe you, Google. Unfortunately, you have definitely burnt many bridges over this.

  • by pleb_nz on 2/16/22, 7:11 AM

    I'm actually surprised by how many comments here are supportive of this knowing the route google is heading with tracking and market domination tactics.

  • by seltzered_ on 2/15/22, 9:48 PM

    Bizarrely reminds of a decade ago when HP's Open webOS was intended to ship on PCs:

    - https://www.engadget.com/2011-03-09-webos-will-on-every-hp-p...

    - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sS3Vk821w8

  • by inlined on 2/15/22, 8:44 PM

    Am I the only person who's vaguely interested but won't try this until it supports dual boot?

  • by AHOHNMYC on 2/19/22, 2:17 AM

    For those who asked direct links on images: https://ahohnmyc.github.io/chromeosflex/ But there is a pitfall: images are not ISO, but GPT.

  • by candiddevmike on 2/15/22, 8:38 PM

    I can't find anymore information about the VDI plug in the workplace section, anyone have a link? Is Google getting into the cloud VDI business, or is it "Chrome os can use VDI tools" handwaving?

  • by notyourday on 2/15/22, 11:30 PM

    I've successfully have installed ChromeOS Flex onto Asus CN60 Chromebox. This Chromebox has been end of support by Google in SEPTEMBER 2019. It worked. I'm using this box strictly as the video conferencing system for my home office - it is connected to a 42" 1080p TV with a Logitech USB camera and wired for the ethernet.

    The following are the steps.

    1. Opened the CN60 and removed the write protect screw

    2. Used the same time to upgrade from 2x 2GB ram modules to 1x 8GB

    3. Validated old ChromeOS booted.

    4. Powered off.

    5. Pushed recovery pin in and while holding it in turned the system on to enter a recovery mode.

    6. Control-D to enter developer mode and remove request write protect off

    7. Press recovery button again to turn write protect off.

    8. ChromeOS clears the local data by itself.

    9. ChromeOS says "preparing developer mode" and says not to turn off the system until it has restarted by itself.

    10. The system reboots into a developer mode by itself.

    11. Ctrl-Alt-F2 on a keyboard to switch to a text based console

    12. Enter "chronos" as the login.

    13. Ensure that the IP address is assigned - i'm using wired port.

    14. Download and run mrchromebox.tech Chromebook/chromebox openfirmware de-googler:

      curl -LO mrchromebox.tech/firmware-util.sh
  sudo install -Dt /usr/local/bin -m 755 firmware-util.sh
  sudo firmware-util.sh
    Installer recognized the CN60.

    Select 2 to install a full uefi firmware.

    system rebooted itself and said there was nothing to boot.

    15. Create a ChromeOS Flex USB image on at least 8G USB stick - I used 16G - you cannot use Linux. You MUST use Windows. To do this in Chrome, got o Chrome Web store and install "Chromebook Recovery Utilities" by Google. Run them. Select Google as the Vendor and Chrome OS Flex as the USB. This process is long. During one of the stages the USB creator says that it did over 100% of work and there is a negative number of seconds remaining. Writes to the USB take a LONG time.

    16. Plugin the USB into the CN60. Go to the boot menu.

    17. Boot off the USB.

    18. See the Chrome logo on a white screen

    19. Eventually see CloudRun 2.0 installation screen

    20. Select install to disk.

    21. Wait for the install. The system will turn itself off when it is done.

    22. Pull out your USB.

    23. Boot off the disk.

    24. Setup your main account - i connected it to the a Business Workspace account. It worked.

  • by turbinerneiter on 2/15/22, 8:32 PM

    Can one use Firefox on ChromeOS?

  • by kornhole on 2/16/22, 2:46 PM

    I can see this being a good use case for some enterprises. For a more personal solution not using the latest and greatest from Google, I have been playing around with a FOSS implementation of Android for any PC/tablet called https://blissos.org/. So far it works well on my hardware.

  • by jdlyga on 2/15/22, 9:01 PM

    The only computer I might need to use this on is my 2017 Chromebook that's now out of support and can't be updated :(

  • by throwawayHN378 on 2/15/22, 8:28 PM

    Ok but it doesn’t let me download anything

  • by notyourday on 2/15/22, 8:13 PM

    I see Google still has not realized that they should list the devices it supports in the announcement...

  • by ankurdhama on 2/16/22, 3:51 AM

    Let's wait and watch. If Google makes this as feature-full as the ChromeOS on chrome devices then it will be a nice thing to have but then wouldn't that hamper the sales of chromeos devices?

  • by encryptluks2 on 2/15/22, 10:34 PM

    If this won't support Android apps, it won't get mass adoption.

  • by babypuncher on 2/15/22, 10:53 PM

    I am struggling to think of a reason why I would want to run Chrome OS instead of macOS, Windows, or Linux. Then again, I've never understood the appeal of Chromebooks to begin with.

  • by zucked on 2/15/22, 11:59 PM

    There isn't a single Samsung Device on the supported devices list. That seems odd to me, given how many Samsung devices I believe are out there.

  • by robertlagrant on 2/16/22, 12:10 AM

    When's it scheduled for EOLing?

  • by reaperducer on 2/15/22, 8:38 PM

    How is this different than the old thin client craze from 20-something years ago?

  • by sidcool on 2/16/22, 7:23 AM

    Is this available for personal use?

  • by PaulHoule on 2/16/22, 12:16 AM

    They need to get Chrome OS running under Enscripen under a real web browser on a real operating system.

  • by machinerychorus on 2/15/22, 8:39 PM

    Microsoft used to bundle a browser with their OS, now Google is bundling an OS with their browser. Time is a flat circle.

  • by Shadonototra on 2/15/22, 11:16 PM

    chrome os is much nicer and easier to use than windows/macos

    too bad they focused on the web, it could have been the perfect alternative to windows, they missed a huge opportunity

    Chrome OS Flex sounds like the right approach, at least you don't need to buy a new HW.. the name on the other hand.. it's a pretty bad name

  • by dvh on 2/15/22, 10:25 PM

    How long till it's cancelled? 6 months?

  • by chakrihacker on 2/16/22, 4:22 AM

    Why would someone use this crap?

  • by cercatrova on 2/15/22, 8:27 PM

    Reminds me of https://www.mightyapp.com/ which streams Chrome to your desktop.

  • by Gollapalli on 2/16/22, 12:57 AM

    No thanks. I like having control over my machine. I don't want it turned into a glorified thin client.

    Might as well be honest about the fact that we're moving back to the timesharing systems of the eighties.

  • by darklion on 2/15/22, 8:23 PM

    Chrome is notable for being a memory hog; older devices, almost by definition, do not come with modern amounts of memory. I wonder what the performance is going to be like.

    Also, I question how well optimized Chrome OS can be for PC substrates. It's one thing to run Chrome OS on a device built around what Chrome OS supports; Chromebooks are essentially the Mac hardware model: limited hardware that is known to be compatible with the software running on it.

    In the wild, though, PCs have a mind-boggling array of different hardware; I wonder how well Chrome OS is going to adapt to that Wild West.