Remember the good old days when your laptop booted up faster than you could make a cup of coffee? Yeah, me neither. My trusty Dell Inspiron, bless its heart, had reached the age where it took longer to load Windows than it did to watch a full movie. Usually, the go-to decision for an aging laptop is to toss it out. Just before I came up with such a decision, I discovered the information about the Chrome OS Flex. It made me change my mind, not only with regards to the old Dell fate, but with regards to more general questions - what is a good or bad OS architecture, what is the good or bad approach to store user data. So with this article I’m sharing my experience.
The main reason for the switch was functional obsolescence of the device that has resulted in performance issues (frequent users will understand how it can frustrate!), and my overall frustration within Windows OS experience as well. Many can ask: but what’s the point? Who owns a laptop for more than 5 years nowadays? It was time to change the hardware, that’s it! Well, I’d been thinking the same - until I found this opportunity.
Needless to say, 15 7000 Gaming with the Nvidia GeForce video board is a powerful machine, and I have undertaken all possible methods to enhance its performance. That said, I shifted all graphics tasks from the OS to my Nvidia video hardware to boost performance. The final straw for me was when Windows notified me about upcoming OS updates. My attempt to update to Windows 11 finished with the notification that it cannot be installed on my device. It meant that after several months I would have to bear all risks of running the OS without updates - security loss, and of course, further performance loss. This felt unfair. I don’t remember what my browser requested the day I encountered the info about the Chrome OS Flex. Finally, it saved me the cost of a new laptop.
I made the switch in a single day, after spending several hours preparing. Overall process is simple and clear, but some crucial details matter! Please know them beforehand so as not to lose your important data. I recommend reading Google Support resources, to check whether your device is on the list of Chrome OS Flex certified models and to make a complete cloud copy of your important files. Overall process of migration to the new OS takes about 1 hour and requires a formatted USB flash drive.
Important: I repeat, do not omit the recommendation to make a cloud copy of your hard drive (at least, the most important information). Gemini 1.5Advanced, to whom I’ve been advising during the process of migration, repeated this to me three times - and finally, it saved my data (read further).
My migration wasn't entirely smooth because my device wasn't on the Chrome OS Flex Certified models list (which includes over 600 devices). This meant the installation might have unexpected results and potentially unreliable performance. However, this didn't make installation impossible—there's an experimental "Raven" Chrome OS Flex build designed for uncertified devices. While this made the process something of a gamble, I had no other options. I took the risk—and haven't regretted it! So what makes Chrome OS Flex unique?
TLDR: it is a completely cloud-based OS with all the consequent benefits - it is secure, it is fast, all user files are stored in the cloud, all apps are sandboxed and live in the cloud as well. To mention, it is absolutely free.
Afterwards I’ve met on the Internet some proposals to buy the switching as a service, but, in my opinion, it is not worth paying for the installation because the overall process is quite simple and clear.
Overall process took less than one hour, which included burning a bootable flash USB, (it allows booting the device in secure UEFI mode), and then the installation of the Chrome OS Flex itself. Rather soon, I had a laptop with a new OS. It had booted to the OS within approximately 10 seconds, and I discovered myself in a quite familiar user interface. Yes, those who have Android mobile devices, will find Chrome OS interfaces to be pretty familiar - not surprisingly, as both the Android OS and the Chrome OS are essentially products by Google. It's not necessary to describe the UI in detail, it’s a case where it is better to use it one time than read about it multiple times.
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Let's explore what makes Chrome OS Flex unique. As it was mentioned already, it is totally cloud-based so all apps and user data live on servers (excluding few apps with an offline access, i.e. Google Docs, Sheets, etc.). Apart from this, there is no necessity in a local storage at all as the Chrome OS doesn't deal with it. So, after the installation the Chrome OS Flex standardly doesn’t see hard drives.
Accessing data on local storage requires using a Linux virtual terminal and familiarity with basic Linux commands. I didn’t know that, so right after installation, it seemed to me that Chrome OS Flex played a game of hide-and-seek with my hard drives. It was like my hard drives had vanished into thin air.
But this episode made me think fruitfully. What I can say - storing user data on a single physical drive is a sort of atavism. I don't know any sound reason (apart from the Internet not being available) to do that - it can break, it is not accessible from any place, it is insecure until you deliberately secure it (with the Veracrypt software, for instance). Moreover, the Chrome OS integrates seamlessly with Google Drive (no need to install it as a separate drive like it is implemented on Windows), and there is an option to establish a connection with Microsoft Onedrive as well.
What about apps? With the Chrome OS you will forget about distributive files and installer files. Indeed, now I consider them to be a sort of atavism as well. All apps on the Chrome OS are implemented in the form of ‘web apps’, including so-called ’progressive web apps’, PWAs. The term was new for me, I learned it quite after I became a Chrome OS user. But it is the core of the OS architecture. Let’s clear this up, as many don’t understand the difference between web site, web app, browser shortcut and progressive web app.
WEB SITE (WEB PAGE) - can be defined as a static page that lives on a server and doesn’t interact with the user's browser while it is accessible via the browser. Think of it as a digital billboard. It displays information, but you can't really interact with it beyond maybe clicking a link or two. Kind of like trying to have a conversation with a brick wall.
APP - application. It interacts with the user. And here is the core difference with the web site definition. Users can ask the application to perform some action, tap functional buttons, etc.
WEB APP - application that is accessible in a user browser. It has server side and user side. It runs at the server, while it interacts with the user in the browser
BROWSER SHORTCUT - single browser tab that is saved somewhere in user interfaces (home screen, launcher, etc.). Browser shortcuts are useful for quick access to the underlying URL link. Browser shortcuts can establish a browser connection with a website or web app.
PROGRESSIVE WEB APP (PWA) - web application that utilizes the user’s browser cache. Standardly, PWA is being installed in a user browser cache. It runs at the server, it caches some core elements in the browser and it makes dynamic updates of the content shown to the user.
Essentially, PWAs are web apps, but users feel them as native apps. Just click on the icon in the bottom bar to access it, and get notifications in the notification bar.
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My Dell laptop with installed Chrome OS Flex
The brain and heart of Chrome OS is the Chrome browser with all its existing customizations. Bookmark manager and tabs grouping feature allow you to navigate effortlessly between several dozen open tabs. User’s saved apps (that are either shortcuts for web apps or PWAs, as we already know) can be pinned in the bottom bar or grouped at the home screen - same as it is on a mobile device. With the Chrome browser feature ‘install page as an app' user can save any browser tab as ‘an application’, pin it to the bottom bar or place it on the home screen or group it in the launcher - even not knowing whether it is a browser page shortcut leading to a web app or is it a PWA. The Chrome OS developers have declared that from the standpoint of user experience, one of the primary goals of the OS is to provide an user with the same experience that he has while dealing with native applications. Well, this goal is achieved quite well.
For those who like details, let's explain further. Any browser tab can be installed on the OS as: either a browser tab or web application or progressive web application. But the difference is not so essential as they tend to merge from the user experience standpoint. Landmarking them is a matter of interest more for developers than for a regular user.
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What about disadvantages and any points of my negative user experience with the Chrome OS? Some say that according to my description, to use the device it should always be online. Generally, it's true. But I wouldn’t mention this as a disadvantage. This is the reality. What is the reason to use the device without the Internet? For me it doesn't make sense at all - all my music is in the cloud, all my documents and books are in the cloud, social networks and messengers are also in the cloud. Of course, not everyone has fast Internet access all the time. Well, the Chrome OS Flex device will boot and some built-in apps will work and some docs are available offline. So, it’s possible to use the device without the Internet, but with rather poor functionality.
What was really a bit of disappointment for me, is the persisting browser clutter. Needless to say, I began to feel it again while being at a different level of user experience - with about 400 installed apps and about 100 opened tabs and applications - what I would never achieve on the same device with Windows. Another, already mentioned challenges with the hard drive accessing - but I changed my setup towards it quickly and stopped to perceive it as a problem. And third, my broken left-shift key. On Windows I remap the CapsLock key to be a left-shift key. There are some programs that can access the Windows OS registry files and make the remapping possible. It is absent on the Chrome OS as there are no user’s registry files. A life without the left-shift key is not impossible of course, but believe me, it is better to have a well-functioning left-shift key. I’ve partially solved the problem with the on-screen keyboard that can be found among the accessibility features.
To summarize, the opportunity to switch to the Chrome OS Flex saved me instantly. Otherwise I would have to buy a new laptop or to have a device with no OS upgrades - that is not only frustrating but, more importantly, it is insecure. I’ve taken a risk of switching within the experimental build and I don't regret it. So, if you're looking to give your old laptop a new lease on life without breaking the bank (or your sanity), I highly recommend taking Chrome OS Flex for a spin. Just don't forget to backup your data first, or you might end up having a virtual shouting match with a Linux terminal.
TIP: if you are a student, just tell your educational organization administrator about the Chrome OS Flex or give it a read this article. Having a small teaching background, I know this problem of renewal of all the devices in the organization. Chrome OS, including Chrome OS Flex, is an ideal OS for educational organizations due to two reasons - integration with numerous educational services by Google and due to features of device group management and browser group policies.
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Abbreviations used in the article
PWA, progressive web application
It is an application, i.e. a user can interact with it. It is accessible through a browser - that’s why a ‘web’ application. And finally, its system components are being installed in browser cache - that's why a ‘progressive’ app.
UEFI, Unified Extensible Firmware Interface
It's essentially the modern replacement for the old BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) that used to be responsible for starting up the computer.
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Nick Saperov
