June 2, 2021

Sales of Chromebooks increased 275% in the first quarter alone compared to the first quarter of 2020, with the boom largely due to its affordability, security, and ease of use, especially when installing updates.

Another reason is that Chrome OS’s support for other operating systems is getting stronger, running on Android, Linux, and even Windows applications via Crossover Chrome OS.

Linux on Chromebooks is coming out of the beta phase. This will be launched in the next major Chrome OS update version 91, which was just released this week. This means that the virtual Linux machine will upgrade along with the Chrome OS, rather than requesting an additional update.

Users will also need to be prepared for improvements in stability, update speeds, USB support, an improved terminal app, and network port forwarding.

News also states that more comprehensive support for Steam games is on the way to Chromebooks built-in Linux. This will combine Vulkan’s 3D graphics applications with Steams Proton, making Windows games on Linux transparent and Chromebooks a gaming device.

Nvidia and MediaTek are also working on bringing RTX graphics to Chromebooks.

Google also released a new VM container that supports Android 11 and encourages developers to customize Android apps on Chromebooks.

Similarly, it is also improving its Chrome OS Android software development kits and tools to make it easier to port its apps to the larger screens of Chromebook and to use the keyboard and touchpad.

All of this makes Chrome OS a hybrid desktop operating system.

For more information, read the original story in Computerworld.