No, Google is not abandoning ChromeOS Flex

A couple weeks back, in light of the news that Google was planning a transition for ChromeOS over to the Android Linux Kernel, an article surfaced that called the future of ChromeOS Flex into question. After all, by the sound of things, it is reasonable to wonder if this change will negatively impact ChromeOS Flex since that version of ChromeOS doesn’t currently come with Android app support. It can easily feel like the two are related.

But those conclusions are not grounded in reality. When we saw this report go out, I reached out to our contacts on the ChromeOS team to verify, and we have been explicitly told that the change to the Android kernel for ChromeOS will have no negative impact on the development and support for ChromeOS Flex.

To be frank, I don’t know enough about Linux Kernels to directly argue what was said in the ZDNET article referenced above, but I do know that asking the ChromeOS team directly if ChromeOS Flex is in trouble or is facing any sort of sunsetting or wind-down garnered the response that I expected.

ChromeOS Flex can’t simply be dismissed

In no reality could Google simply pull the rug out from under ChromeOS Flex at this point if you think about it for a minute. After seeing news spread about how it was deployed in large businesses to help fix ransomware attacks and trumpeting it as the fix for companies or schools with aging laptops for a few years at this point, getting rid of it would make little to no sense.

I think back to a few years ago when we wondered if ChromeOS would stick around for the long haul. At some point, Chromebooks were in enough schools and businesses for Google not to be able to pull the plug on it any longer. The Google Graveyard is real, sure, but once any service or product hits a certain velocity, there’s no going back.

Simply put, the PR would be a disaster. While it’s acceptable (yet still quite frustrating) for services with small user bases to be eliminated, once a certain threshold is met, you can’t just walk away any longer. I’m not entirely sure ChromeOS Flex is at that point on its own, but it’s part of a larger ecosystem and brand at this point, and simply pulling it down now would be a terrible look for Google and for ChromeOS.

That doesn’t mean that over the next couple of years things won’t change under the hood for both Android and ChromeOS at the kernel level to continue to align things as they prepare for this rollout. As a matter of fact, I’d almost guarantee it will. But for now, rest assured that this change in kernel isn’t placing ChromeOS Flex in jeopardy, and if you are using it now or plan to use it soon, Google is standing behind it.