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Operating Systems IT

Google's Chrome OS Flex is Now Available for Old PCs and Macs (theverge.com) 60

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Google is releasing Chrome OS Flex today, a new version of Chrome OS that's designed for businesses and schools to install and run on old PCs and Macs. From a report: Google first started testing Chrome OS Flex earlier this year in an early access preview, and the company has now resolved 600 bugs to roll out Flex to businesses and schools today. Chrome OS Flex is designed primarily for businesses running old Windows PCs, as Google has been testing and verifying devices from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, Toshiba, and many more OEMs. Flex will even run on some old Macs, including some 10-year-old MacBooks. The support of old hardware is the big selling point of Chrome OS Flex, as businesses don't have to ditch existing hardware to get the latest modern operating system. More than 400 devices are certified to work, and installation is as easy as using a USB drive to install Chrome OS Flex.
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Google's Chrome OS Flex is Now Available for Old PCs and Macs More

Google's Chrome OS Flex is Now Available for Old PCs and Macs

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  • I didn't RTFA, but if it's aimed for businesses, I assume it's got the ability to be integrated into a domain and AD, accept GPO rules, and be able to install a firewall and/or antivirus?
    Because if not, it's not much use for businesses.
    Never mind Office...

    • Not all business PCs are used for office work. For example, the warehouse shipping computer running on a browser on Windows XP can get a new OS with some support.

    • I highly doubt they are targeting the types of businesses today that rely on Windows with AD and Group Policies.

      Imagine a small or medium business that is already just using Google Workspaces with everything web based. There is not just some value I imagine in getting more use out of older hardware but I imagine Google will integrate the ChromeOS system admin functions into the Workspace control panel allowing more centralized administration of the hardware itself.

      Also it's likely the attack surface of a m

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by bill_mcgonigle ( 4333 ) *

      > accept GPO rules, and be able to install a firewall and/or antivirus?

      Yeah, it's totally set up to do all the things necessary to "secure" the steaming pile of shit that is Windows, because linux plus Chrome needs that.

      Dude, very few 21st-century businesses run Windows.

      • But a whole ton of gov't agencies do....Hell, I work for one and our systems are all Windows with no possibilities for any alternatives because all our software is bespoke.

      • I've never worked anywhere that didn't have Windows desktops. They may have had a Linux server or two, but even those are mostly Windows.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by aitikin ( 909209 )

          I've never worked anywhere that didn't have Windows desktops. They may have had a Linux server or two, but even those are mostly Windows.

          My office is all Mac for workstations. There's a few Windows machines in IT, one in sales to run specialized software, and I believe 2-3 in the marketing department. Kiosks are running a customized Android distribution if memory serves, and the backbone servers (both internal and web) are Linux (Ubuntu server I believe).

          That said, we're a sales organization in the artistic world, so not surprising we revolve around Mac.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Bert64 ( 520050 )

      Being ChromeOS, it can be centrally managed.
      Antivirus is largely pointless because ChromeOS will not execute code that hasn't come from the store.
      It does include a built in firewall i believe, not that it really matters because they don't have listening services and don't run arbitrary binaries.

      Many business applications are available in web delivered form these days, if you have employees which only need web delivered apps then chromeos works very well and is far more secure than the alternatives. This all

      • "Antivirus is largely pointless because ChromeOS will not execute code that hasn't come from the store."

        OK, you just keep telling yourself that.

        • If you believe anti-virus will save you in the situation where a malicious app has got into the store or some 0-day is allowing untrusted code to be executed then you are even more naive than someone who believes the app store is 100% safe. The simple fact of the matter is that it's extremely unlikely that you'll get a malicious app unless you are going out of your way to install every bit of crapware you can find and the system is so locked down that even a program with a security flaw can barely be made t

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kremmy ( 793693 )
      Cool thing about systems that aren't Windows, you don't need to go overboard on group policy rules applied to your entire client network to feel good about them.

    • I didn't RTFA, but if it's aimed for businesses, I assume it's got the ability to be integrated into a domain and AD [...]

      It's from Google, so AD support is definitely integrated.

  • The only issue with using "old PCs" is that old hardware sometimes really is unreliable. Sure, some systems will be fine but I've seen cases where lots of stuff over 10 years old is getting very flaky. Particularly power supplies. So if it is a good quality system that is only a few years old, fill your boots. But if someone in manglement or a beancounter is looking at a massive pile of really old and dusty desktops and drooling over their next bonus, that could lead to disaster.

    • Not to mention power draw. It's not uncommon for a 10 year old machine to idle at 40-50W where a more modern machine will do 20W. Some even less. And in the race to sleep, a modern machine will be at high draw for less time. There's a P4 at work that is 100% perfectly suited for the task it's assigned, but it is 65W at idle. It should have been replaced by a raspberry pi and maybe it will be when there's an incentive to save power versus a disincentive to be the idiot who changed something and will soon be

  • meaning I still have a brick of a box that is otherwise perfectly functional (a hisense 11) if it weren't for Google just not giving a shit.

    • Reflash and install Linux. My mother had a chromebook for years and she never had a problem until it decided to stop connecting to the printer. Absolutely no way of troubleshooting anything. I installed Ubuntu and it works just like before and barely notices the difference. The biggest pain was opening the chromebook to disconnect the battery and allow the bios to get reflashed.

  • "Chromebooks have certainly shown the world there is a strong alternative to Windows, particularly for education where it has thrived thanks to Chromebooks."

    So Chromebooks are thriving because... Chromebooks. Thanks Verge.

  • Is this easier to install than, say, Linux MInt? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Thursday July 14, 2022 @12:27PM (#62702802)

    I guess I'm wondering if they've made a turnkey solution, or if they're just targeting those "IT lite" people who basically don't know Linux exists - since most mainstream distros are pretty simple to install, nowadays.

    If it's not drop-dead simple, I don't see the point of this versus Mint or another Linux distro. Other than Google not being able to collect as much data on you, if you went with the latter.

    • drivers better? or some systems work at mini levels?
      Is there an easy to way to add drivers for X hardware to your system with this?
      How long will have drivers for X hardware?
      Will be stuck in some basic VGA mode on some systems?
      ATI / NVIDIA drivers?

      • Nope, you're pretty much stuck with whatever drivers are in the version of the Linux kernel in use under the hood (5.10 I believe). There's no way to modify it to add drivers as the OS is quite locked down. It's an "it either works or it doesn't" situation.

        You can test it before you install it through the installation USB however.

    • Creating the live USB install media is relatively simple: it uses the same Chrome extension that is used to make recovery media for Chromebooks. Annoyingly the Chromebook Recovery Extension doesn't work in Linux but there are .bin files you can download and flash if you look for them. It boots into a menu that gives you the option of installing it to the internal drive or trying it live from the USB first. Once installed, you sign into your Google account and you've got Chrome. You can turn on Linux app sup

    • Re:Is this easier to install than, say, Linux MInt (Score:4, Interesting)

      by nothinginparticular ( 6181282 ) on Thursday July 14, 2022 @02:34PM (#62703102)
      I think it is exactly that: IT lite people are worried about putting some free hippie shit on a company machine. Better go for the "safe" corporate offering even though it's linux underneath. I worked with a manager who fundamentally disagreed with using open source because they think if they've paid for something they can shout down the phone to get a bug fixed. Ironically we're now in the painful position migrating a large code base from a proprietary version control system to the now ubiquitous free hippie shit that is git. Over the years I've installed various debian based distros (primarily ubuntu but also mint amongst others) on older hardware and I can't imagine how it could be any simpler. Definitely simpler and quicker than installing windows and none of the licensing crap or coercion into joining/setting up some flavour of the month microsoft account. I must admit, though I've heard about flex I haven't felt the need to install linux with strings attached so can't comment on that.
    • In my experience the reason to choose flex over Ubuntu and derivatives is that had reasonable browsing and video performance on super-crappy old systems without any special tuning.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by udittmer ( 89588 )

      It is very simple. And for the intended non-techie end user (who will likely be unfamiliar with Linux), it's much easier to use and install additional software, especially if one is familiar with Android already (basically all Android apps can be installed). But yes, you need to buy into Google.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by udittmer ( 89588 )

        I stand corrected: Flex does NOT support running Android apps (unlike Chrome OS, which does). That limits the app selection to whatever Chrome OS apps the Play Store offers (not sure what is in there) and Linux apps that techie users can install.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • It's lot easier to intall than Linux, it's lot easier to get full Chrome up and running on than Linux, it runs full Chrome much faster than Linux, it doesn't come X Windows, Wayland, SystemD, Gnome, KDE, half a dozen other desktops and Window Managers, multiple package mangers and all the other GB os stuff you don't need to surf the web. It doesn't run into update, package or library dependancy problems like Linux.

      Why would you install and manage a Linux system just to run Chrome?

  • Logging in? (Score:4, Informative)

    by Major_Disorder ( 5019363 ) on Thursday July 14, 2022 @12:33PM (#62702826)
    The last time I looked at Chrome OS, it required me to use my gmail password as my login password. Now obviously my gmail password is long, complex and difficult to type. Obviously I store this password in a password manager. I looked and found no way to have a local password on the ChromeOS device. This was, and is, a total dealbreaker for me. So I factory reset and returned it. I still wouldn't mind one as a webbrowser machine for in the garage, but this flaw as a 100% no go for me.

    • Re:Logging in? (Score:4, Informative)

      by SilentChasm ( 998689 ) on Thursday July 14, 2022 @12:38PM (#62702838)

      Logging in does require the Google account password still. You can setup a different PIN to use to unlock the screen after locking it or when waking from sleep, but the initial login after it is powered off or rebooted still requires the password.

      • Logging in does require the Google account password still. You can setup a different PIN to use to unlock the screen after locking it or when waking from sleep, but the initial login after it is powered off or rebooted still requires the password.

        Thanks. So still useless. Thanks though, saved me having to buy one and return it again.

    • Re:Logging in? (Score:4, Informative)

      by spaceman375 ( 780812 ) on Thursday July 14, 2022 @03:14PM (#62703222)
      You can make a new google account, with a simple name and password, maybe 2FA if you really want, and use it just for that machine. No need to connect it to your real accounts beyond a recovery email address, which doesn't have to be gmail. It's a virtually local account, with the login details (and history, and data) on a google "cloud" sever somewhere.
    • You can also pair your Chrome OS device with your mobile phone so that it allows you to unlock if your phone is within reach. There were many alternatives to using your difficult password. Are you sure you are a nerd?

  • TFA missing the link... (Score:3)

    by dark.nebulae ( 3950923 ) on Thursday July 14, 2022 @01:12PM (#62702906)

    Why would the TFA authors not include an actual link to the google os flex page?

    https://chromeenterprise.google/os/chromeosflex/ [chromeenterprise.google]

    • Google seems very thirsty for personal info.

      they wont let you just download the image file and direct write it to a USB stick, because FUCK YOU. Nope, instead, they want you to first, fill out a registration page with all your personal information, then switch to google chrome on you system you are working on, then, install a custom browser extension that can scribble on USB sticks, ---JUST so you can create the install media.

      No thank you google. I have found deep links to older dev channel releases of Chro

  • Will this run on my 286 ?

  • Seems odd that they would support very old Windows hardware with Chrome but won't support the OS in older Chromebooks, halting updates after their "expiration".

  • Now we can have a bubbly Apple-like stripped down OS with none of the useful features of 'real' ChromeOS like the play store, a real Chrome browser instead of Chromium, the linux subsystem that lets you run other apps, and proper USB device support.

    We tried to use this as a thin client OS using old hardware and it won't even run Remote Desktop clients. It's a major step down from just installing Ubuntu.

  • I'd rather die than install/use a Google OS.

  • Flex (Score:3)

    by ledow ( 319597 ) on Thursday July 14, 2022 @04:40PM (#62703422) Homepage

    Been using it for months in production in a school.

    Makes our old PC's fly so much we're not going to bother to replace or upgrade them this year.

    And you can buy the usual Chromebook management licenses per device if you want and then it becomes a full locked down computer for the kids.

    Best thing to happen to us, I would happily run the entire school I manage off Chromebox / Chromebook, Google Admin and web services.

  • You install this once, give them a google account, and never worry about it again. Once the hardware starts failing, you simply get a new old :) device from somewhere and put Chromeos flex on it again, and they can continue where they left off.

    Here's for hoping google gets to a point of supporting more recent devices BEFORE windows 10's end of life date.

    Google has the advertising budget, so they actually stand a chance against Microsoft and Apple.

    • Got an old Chromebook for my mother in law.

      She has difficulty with having to login everytime she wants to just watch some youtube videos. Does not matter with the PIN or the google account password.

      If Chromebook has a way to use without logging in, it will be alot more suitable for more people.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by bn-7bc ( 909819 )
        well as long as she does not use incognito tabs you can just let chrome store her google password and she wil be all good for all googles services

  • Flex doesn't support Android apps.

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