Try Chrome OS Flex To See If you’d like Cloud-based PCs

Google’s Chrome OS Flex promises to be the “Secure Chrome OS for PCs and Macs”. It’s a product of Google’s acquisition of CloudReady – creator of Neverware. See, until the latter came along, Chrome OS users had no choice but to accept the “planned obsolescence” scheme tied to all Chromebooks. Though this is still true, big G increased the duration of the support cycle in 2020.

Unlike Chrome OS, Neverware was made available to all machines, not just Chromebooks. It offered the same user experience but just about anyone could install it on any PC. Google’s acquisition of CloudReady has brought the OS into the fold. And now, the Search giant is offering it as a free-to-use operating system which is in line with its expectations of a Chrome OS system.

It’s considered an early access release, so it would be best not to rely on it as your main work machine. You might encounter a few bugs from time to time as Google continues to improve on the platform before offering a stable release later this year. In the meantime Google hopes you can try it out to see if you would be interested in joining the cloud-based computing revolution.

This is how to install Chrome OS Flex on just about any computer:

System requirements:
Architecture: Intel or AMD x86-64-bit compatible device
RAM: 4 GB
Internal storage: 16 GB
Bootable from USB drive
BIOS: Full administrator access.

Before getting started, Google will make you fill in a few details about yourself. Once done, it will provide a helpful guide on how to get started as well as a list of certified devices that should be compatible with the OS.

Get a USB drive with at least 8 GB of storage space.

Add the Chromebook Recovery Utility extension to your Chrome browser on an existing computer.

• Turn on the Chromebook Recovery Utility by toggling on the extension
• Launch the extension and select get started
• Click Select a model from a list.
• For Select a manufacturer, find and click Google Chrome OS Flex.
• For Select a product, find and click Chrome OS Flex (Developer-Unstable).
• Follow the instructions. When prompted, insert the USB drive and click create.
• Once the process is complete, insert the USB drive into the machine you’d like to run Chrome OS Flex on, then boot into said USB via the bios.
• Boot into the Chrome OS Flex via the menu options.
• Once done, you can sample the entire operating system without the need to install it locally or if you are ready, install Chrome OS Flex on your PC.

Take a look at Google’s instructions to follow the step-by-step guide.