Google has announced that Chrome OS is here to stay, and that the company doesn’t have any plans to let the software get rusty. However, the big G has plans to mix and match Chrome OS with the beloved Android.
At the end of October, The Wall Street Journal has surfaced that the search engine giant’s line of Chromebooks would feature a fusion between its Android OS and Chrome OS.
Chromebooks are low-cost laptops animated by Chrome OS.
Google, which is now part of the Cali-based Alphabet, is backing Chrome OS and the company is throwing their full support. The software is unique in more than one way – it takes advantage of the cloud in order to run.
Don’t mistake Chrome OS with the Chrome browser – while they may seem to be exactly the same, these two pieces of software are fundamentally different.
Hiroshi Lockheimer, the head of Chrome OS and all of the company’s Android projects, has announced Monday that they have no plans to falter development. In his statement, he continues to add that Chrome OS is here to stay.
However, even if Chromebooks will be equipped with a ChromeOS/Android blend, how many users will notice the difference? Chromebooks are quite popular among students that look for budget laptops.
These low-cost laptops have received good to great reviews in the past, but, unfortunately for Google, their product line ranked only for three percent of last year’s laptop shipments.
This is according to market research firm International Data Corporation, or IDC for short.
Chromebooks don’t usually make their way to homes or offices. Schools seem to favor their low retail price – $150; and students who need a lightweight laptop for projects, essays and casually browsing the interwebz.
Google notes that more than 30,000 new Chromebooks are brought to life in classrooms every day across the US. According to IDC, in the 2014 education market, Chromebooks comprised almost 30 percent of laptops.
Lockheimer has said that Chromebooks fans shouldn’t worry that their laptop will go obsolete. This mainly because Google is working to develop their software even further, attempting to bridge the gap between Chrome OS and Android.
Google is planning to release a brand new media player for Chrome, along with a visual rebranding in order to make it look more like the company’s other products.
After TWSJ has published their piece last week, Lockheimer has publicly come out to defend the company’s stance on Chrome OS. He even tweeted that Google is more than committed to their software.
The bottom line is that, Chrome OS is here to stay – one way or another.