Chrome OS 96 is fixed and Google has officially resumed the rollout

With the rapid-fire pace of Chrome and Chrome OS updates, things can sometimes go sideways. For an OS that is now on its 96th iteration, there really haven’t been that many times that an update was so fundamentally flawed that Google had to pull it, fix it, and re-start the wider update process. When you look at the number of updates that have gone quite smoothly, the percentage of broken updates really is quite small in the grand scheme of things.

Regardless, Chrome OS 96 was busted, halted, and had to be fixed before it was re-introduced to the world. We don’t have firm reasons for this, but there was clearly a problem with Android apps on Chrome OS, causing crashes and install issues. Chrome OS 96 was only out for less than a week when this all went down, so Google caught it quickly. Luckily, there’s always a way to revert to your previous OS version on a Chromebook, and in case you ever need that, you can learn how right here.

Official word that Chrome OS 96 is back

Last night I received an email from Google stating that the issues with Chrome OS 96 had been corrected and the fresh, new, fixed-up version was actively rolling out. When I arrived at the office this morning, an update was waiting in my system tray and when checking cros.tech, it looks like all current Chromebooks should be ready for the update to M96.

Remember, this update is sort of the bridge to the new, 4-week update cycle that will begin in earnest with Chrome OS 97, slated for January 6th. At that point, Chrome will be updated every 4 weeks and Chrome OS will follow 2 days after. While we’re hoping for LaCrOS to show up with M97 to de-couple Chrome from Chrome OS, we’re not absolutely sure that will happen at this point: it’s coming soon, though. What we are certain of, however, is that the 4-week schedule begins at that point in early January.

If your Chromebook isn’t showing this latest update, you can head to Settings > About Chrome OS > Check for updates, push that button, and wait for your Chromebook to snag the latest version of the OS. We’ll be keeping an eye on latest version for any other snags, but our hope is M96 is fully ironed-out at this point and it should be smooth sailing until that next update on January 6th. If LaCrOS does show up at that point, I feel certain we’ll see a few bumps in the road as it lands, but we’ll deal with that when it gets here.