Google releases new version of Chrome OS with support for Linux apps

Google has released a new version of Chrome OS that allows users to run Linux apps on Chromebooks. Not all Chromebooks support this out of the box.

Chromebooks that support running the Linux app include the 2017 Google Pixelbook and some of the newer Chromebooks from Acer, Samsung, and Lenovo. It concerns a mix of Chromebooks that run on x86 and AArch64 kernels.

The Linux apps are placed within a security sandbox and run on a Debian-based virtual machine. The apps are accessible from a Chrome OS window and the files are also in the VMs, so that malware for Linux cannot easily affect the rest of Chrome OS, for example. Google probably wants to make it possible for developers to test Android apps on Chromebooks with the support of Linux apps.

Other Chrome OS 69 updates are partially similar to those recently released for Chrome. Visual changes have been made to the browser, for example, with tabs having rounded corners. Furthermore, some searches in the address bar are immediately provided with a result, without users having to press enter. Google has also introduced a night mode and added a microphone button to the status bar.