Every new operating system from Microsoft and Apple asks a little more of your hardware. Over the course of years, once-great computers are reduced to little more than inconveniently large calculators, but maybe you don’t have to throw out that old system. Google has released a new version of Chrome OS called Chrome OS Flex that could rescue it. Chrome Flex is free to download on your aging computer, turning it into a Chromebook that should run faster than it did on the old OS.
Chrome OS Flex came to be thanks to Google’s acquisition of Neverware in 2020. Neverware has a product called CloudReady, which is similar to Chrome Flex except it’s built on the open source Chromium code. Google says current CloudReady users will be moved to Flex when it’s ready, but the software will continue to be free for individual use.
You have the option of running Chrome OS Flex from a USB drive, but for the best results, it should be installed on the system drive. It can be run on both Windows and macOS computers using Intel and AMD CPUs, but ARM is not supported. Enterprise administrators will also be able to boot it over the network. Regardless of how you run it, Chrome OS Flex offers most of the same features and apps as regular Chrome OS. You get Chrome, Google Assistant, Android phone integration, nearby sharing, and most of the other things not included with Chromium.
The Chrome OS Flex desktop looks like any other Chromebook, minus the Play Store.
One thing you won’t get is support for Android apps. This is a default feature on new Chromebooks, but Google is more focused on the core OS functionality. Google exerts a great deal of control over Chromebook hardware, which no doubt helps make Android apps possible. The myriad configurations of old PCs complicate that process. Google is also careful to point out that Chrome OS Flex doesn’t have control over any of the low-level system features as it would on a “real” Chromebook. If there’s a BIOS or firmware update for your machine, you’re responsible for installing (or not installing) it.
Chrome OS Flex is currently available as a developer build. It will follow the same release schedule as Chrome OS proper. In the coming months, there will be a stable version that you can feel more confident installing. Google has tested a large number of Windows and macOS computers to see how they behave in Chrome OS Flex. Most of the supported devices have some minor issues, and a few are listed as having major issues. About as many in the list are fully operational. If you’re happy with your current computing environment, this build of Chrome Flex won’t help. At the same time, this is an alternative to the trash heap — it doesn’t have to be perfect out of the gate.
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