Sundar Pichai – leader of one of the largest companies in the world. The CEO of Google and its parent company Alphabet rose through the ranks during his illustrious 17-year stint at the company. His accomplishments are many and he is responsible, in part, for many of the Google services that millions of people use every day. For the countless people who use Chrome and / or Chrome OS on a daily basis, here’s a little history lesson for you. In 2010, Sundar rose to that stage as a Chrome product management leader and announced what was new with the fledgling browser that would become a global powerhouse. During this talk, Mr. Pichai announced the launch of the Chrome OS Pilot Program. Chrome OS started developing about a year earlier, but now, Google really wanted to put Chrome OS devices in the hands of developers for testing and improvement. Thus was born the Cr-48. Check out the video below if you want to take a quick look at that day.
In the past ten years, Chrome OS has come a long way. We are not going to delve into the evolution of the platform. If you want to know more, you are currently on a website that is literally dedicated to Chrome OS. For years, Chrome OS has been criticized for a number of shortcomings and shortcomings, but we are excited to share often that many of these arguments are no longer valid. You can now print easily from any Chromebook and all current generation devices now have access to the Google Play Store and millions of Android apps. Users can install and run Linux applications and corporate customers have access to Windows virtual machines running locally, thanks to a partnership with Parallels. Love it or hate it, you can’t deny that Chrome OS is standing out and has matured far beyond the “browser only” experience it was.
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That said, one area where Chrome OS users are still looking for answers is the continued support of devices that have reached the end of their useful life. It is true that Google has made great strides in this department, as the new Chromebook models for the market need to receive updates for Chrome OS for no less than eight years from the initial hardware release. That’s great, but what about the devices on the shelves that still have capable hardware but are not being updated anymore? That was the exact question that was asked during a question and answer session in yesterday’s media session for the celebration of Chrome OS’s 10th anniversary.
Although Google did not give a direct answer, ChromeOS director of product management Alexander Kuscher said that Chrome OS developers were “working behind the scenes” to ensure that the browser on Chrome OS was always up to date. These are all the details that were given to us, but they were enough to convince us that it was the “LaCrOS” project that he was referring to. LaCrOS is an effort to separate the Chrome browser from the Chrome operating system so that when a device reaches the end of its life, the browser can still receive crucial updates and provide a safe and secure browsing experience for users who don’t want to get rid of of a perfectly good laptop.
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This was not a surprise to us, but Google has not yet officially shared any information about LaCrOS or the split between Chrome and Chrome OS. However, while browsing Twitter last night, I found a tweet from Sundar Pichai that reinforces our belief that this is exactly what is happening. In the tweet, the Google CEO shared a photo of the iconic Cr-48 and mentioned his time working on the device. He goes on to say that “maybe it’s time to upgrade to the latest version of Chrome”.
For those unfamiliar with the inner workings of Chrome OS, this tweet may seem like an insignificant nod that simply signifies the 10th anniversary of the operating system. Given the information shared during the virtual event and the extensive work to be done at LaCrOS, we think that this little tweet is much more than meets the eye. If you ask me, Sundar simply said that we will see a standalone version of Chrome on the Chrome operating system. The fact that he shared this and the recent news that Chrome will soon run on a new update schedule makes me believe that Chrome and Chrome OS will soon be two distinct entities in an ecosystem and this is very news good for Chromebook users everywhere. Mr. Pichai, if you would like to confirm this, we would love to introduce you in a future episode of The Chrome Cast. Just write to us.