Installing Google Chrome OS Flex looks similar to installing Windows 11 via installation media on a new PC. Google warns that adding Google Chrome OS Flex to an older PC may mean that you’ll be using Chrome with a keyboard that wasn’t explicitly designed for it, so certain functions may not work or may behave erratically. Instead, it replaces Windows, and all of its files. And that’s a point to be reiterated: Chrome OS Flex doesn’t offer the ability to run Chrome OS in a window or a virtualized environment, a la the new Android apps for Windows. Now, Google is offering them an additional option: Replace Windows with Chrome OS, and enjoy the benefits of that streamlined operating system.

Traditionally, DIY PC enthusiasts would either leave an older PC running, scavenge it for parts, or replace the Windows operating system with a resource-light version of Linux. Google describes CloudReady as a “previous version of Chrome OS Flex.” “Google will automatically update CloudReady devices to Chrome OS Flex, when Chrome OS Flex is stable,” the company added. If this all sounds familiar, you’re right: Google bought CloudReady a few years ago, and used that company’s work as a way to turn laptop PCs into Chromebooks.

For example, a Chrome OS Flex “fleet” can be managed with Chrome Enterprise Upgrade, Google says.

Google appears to be positioning Chrome OS Flex for a dual purpose: a way for consumers to try out the benefits of Chromebooks, and a way for enterprises to evaluate how well they can be managed.

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