Chromebooks Just Got A Big Update

I happen to have one of the Google CR-48’s that Google gave out. It’s running ChromeOS Beta channel and it’s pretty great (except it’s falling apart.) I’m personally a fan of ChromeOS as a lightweight and secure OS that just serves to get you on the web. It’s not a full desktop OS that I can program on (my biggest issue) and the hardware is pretty slow (single core ATOM kill me) but the principal is great.

Today we see a big update. The new (Aura?) UI has just moved to the OS and I think it’s a direct reaction to users feeling “locked” into the browser. The new UI has actual movable Windows and a more classic desktop.

I think that this more traditional desktop environment will make transitioning to ChromeOS a lot easier for some users.

Personally, I didn’t mind it before. My CR48 is too weak for a ton of windows anyways. We’ll see if this new UI is what ChromeOS needs to start being treated like a “real” OS. Hopefully I get to try this new UI out soon but I think CR48’s haven’t gotten the update yet.

Sources:

https://support.google.com/chromeos/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2586116