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

Posted by msmash

• • This is Chrome OS. It replaces Windows. Sounds like you've got it confused with the browser.

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    What does this have to do with Windows XP, Vista, or 7?

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    It is good for people who want to continue to use older but functional computers where the OS is no longer receiving security, bug fixes, and feature updates. Instead of relying on Windows Vista or OS X that are out of date, people will install Flex. People can use Linux and BSDs for older equipment but that involves varying levels of expertise.

  • This is literally a way to get rid of unsupported old OSes. Its good for the exact reason you seem to think it is not.

• 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...

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    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.

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    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

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    > 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.

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      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.

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      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.

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        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.

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    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

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

      OK, you just keep telling yourself that.

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    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.

• 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.

• 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.

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    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.

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    Don't forget payola.

• 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 level

    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?

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      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.

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    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

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    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 hipp
• 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.

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    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.

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

• • Re:

    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

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      You can skip the form...

• 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.