Borealis, the official Steam gaming support in Chromebooks, has been in development for at least a year now (and likely much longer). Let’s go over some new revelations we've found and then take a look back at what we know so far. There are many signs that point to a release of Borealis in the … [Read more...] about Why ‘Borealis’ (Steam gaming for Chromebooks) may still arrive in 2021
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Online games with Anti-Cheat will soon be playable on Chromebooks
Ever since Valve announced their Steam Deck, it has been nothing but great news for Linux gamers and, by extension, soon-to-be Chromebook gamers. One of their original goals was to make anti-cheat software compatible with Wine and Proton (the programs that make Windows games work on Linux). This … [Read more...] about Online games with Anti-Cheat will soon be playable on Chromebooks
CrossOver 21 is now available: how to use it to run Windows apps on your Chromebook
It’s been a while since we’ve touched on CrossOver. It’s a commercial product from CodeWeavers, the developers behind Wine and Proton, which allows Windows applications and games to run natively on Linux and macOS. Thankfully the janky old days of CrossOver running on Chromebooks through limited … [Read more...] about CrossOver 21 is now available: how to use it to run Windows apps on your Chromebook
Exclusive: how to enable Vulkan in Crostini on your Chromebook right now
The time has come: welcome to our exclusive guide on how you can use Vulkan in Crostini! This unlocks the full gaming power of Chromebooks by allowing more modern games to work. More importantly, it also allows Steam’s Proton compatibility layer to work at its full potential, which means the … [Read more...] about Exclusive: how to enable Vulkan in Crostini on your Chromebook right now
Running benchmarks with Vulkan in Crostini (Linux for Chrome OS) yields surprising results
We recently cracked the case of how to get Vulkan graphics acceleration working in Crostini. I've got a full guide on how to do this yourself coming up as my next article so stay tuned for that if you'd like to be able to tinker with this a bit yourself! With the power of Vulkan, we wanted to see … [Read more...] about Running benchmarks with Vulkan in Crostini (Linux for Chrome OS) yields surprising results
More Details on the AMD dGPU-powered Chromebook Arise
A few of our tech-savvy readers (thanks @Cooe, @Locuza_, and others!) have written in to let us know about a big detail we missed when first talked about the AMD dGPU Chromebook in the works: the Vega 12 being tested for it does exist. In fact, it has already been shipped in the older MacBook Pros … [Read more...] about More Details on the AMD dGPU-powered Chromebook Arise
Here are the first Chromebooks that will get Steam gaming (‘Borealis’)
While talking about our breakthough with getting Vulkan to work in Crostini (a full guide is coming soon!), I teased something else that a few folks picked up on. We found clues from the Chromium OS source code that answer a big question that we keep hearing from the community: what Chromebooks are … [Read more...] about Here are the first Chromebooks that will get Steam gaming (‘Borealis’)
Variable Refresh Rate support is coming to Chromebooks for smoother gaming
Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) has been a hot topic the past few years as it brings the promise of avoiding screen tearing and providing smoother-looking displays. This is noticeable when it comes to simple activities like scrolling through web pages, but more importantly, it greatly affects gaming … [Read more...] about Variable Refresh Rate support is coming to Chromebooks for smoother gaming
Eureka! Playing Vulkan Games in Crostini
Today is a day I’ve been waiting for for a long time: Vulkan support in Crostini is a reality. Technically, it's been available in the default "termina" virtual machine since Chrome OS 93. The catch was that the Debian container inside the virtual machine needs an updated and experimental graphics … [Read more...] about Eureka! Playing Vulkan Games in Crostini
What happens when a Chrome OS device is no longer supported?
Have you ever wondered what happens when your Chrome OS device reaches the end of its support? Me too. Fortunately (or unfortunately?), my Chromebook Pixel 2 was promised updates until a few months ago. This article will be the first in a series where I talk about breathing new life into your Chrome … [Read more...] about What happens when a Chrome OS device is no longer supported?
ARM and NVIDIA Gaming Chromebooks are in the works
One day soon we will see serious Arm gaming Chromebooks. With realistic ray-traced graphics. Rendered on a NVIDIA graphics card. Pinch me, I must be dreaming! A few months ago, our very own Gabriel Brangers reported on an official announcement from NVIDIA about them combining an Arm CPU with an … [Read more...] about ARM and NVIDIA Gaming Chromebooks are in the works
What Steam Deck Means for Chromebooks and Borealis
Today, Valve made a huge announcement. The company announced Steam Deck, a portable game console powered by Linux and a Windows game compatibility program called Proton. Imagine a Nintendo Switch that can play over 50,000 PC games from the popular Steam library. That is the Steam Deck in a nutshell. … [Read more...] about What Steam Deck Means for Chromebooks and Borealis
