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Chromebooks, ChromeOS and the Android Kernel: What's Going On?
Jan 21, 2025
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There's been a lot of talk, rumor, excitement and trepidation going around about Android replacing Chrome OS on Chromebooks. On one side, you have Google telling us just a bit about the changes under the hood in an announcement that was purposefully meant to sound benign. On the other, you have wild rumors and insider info that Android is going to completely replace ChromeOS on Chromebooks. As usual, the reality likely lies somewhere in the middle.
Read more: https://chromeunboxed.com/chromebooks-chromeos-and-the-android-kernel-what-we-think-is-going-on-video/
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0:00
so by now you may have heard the rumor
0:02
about Android coming to replace Chrome
0:04
OS on Chromebooks and while that rumor
0:07
is probably not right um the truth is
0:11
there are some things going on under the
0:12
hood with Chromebooks and so as it is
0:15
most times with these types of things
0:17
the truth actually kind of Lies
0:19
somewhere right in the middle so let's
0:21
talk about
0:25
it but before we get into all this
0:27
Chromebook Chrome OS Android drama I
0:30
would like to invite you uh to become a
0:32
part of our chroman box plus community
0:35
and in that Community you'll find
0:36
hundreds of people that are already
0:38
there discussing all sorts of stuff
0:40
about Chromebooks and Chrome OS and
0:41
Android and all sorts of Google things
0:44
as well um and and with a $2 a month
0:47
membership you'll gain access to our
0:49
Discord server where all those people
0:51
are discussing all that stuff but we
0:52
also host exclusive amas with the
0:55
chromeos team you'll gain U add free
0:57
access to the website add free access to
0:59
our our uh podcast feed uh exclusive
1:02
giveaways it's just an incredible place
1:04
to be it's an incredible place to hang
1:06
out and uh again for two bucks a month
1:08
it's just it's hard to beat so uh
1:10
hopefully you'll head over there chrom
1:11
inbox.com jooin and uh we'll see you in
1:14
there soon okay so let's start all this
1:16
with what actually happened cuz most of
1:19
this stuff is rumor here say it's just
1:21
stuff that's passed around the web so
1:23
let's talk about what actually happened
1:24
and this was back in the summer uh
1:27
Google came out and said hey look we've
1:29
got an announcement to make
1:30
um we are going to be replacing the
1:32
standard Chrome OS Linux kernel with the
1:34
Android Linux kernel moving forward it's
1:37
going to take a while for it to get done
1:39
um and over the course of those couple
1:40
years we're basically going to replace
1:42
the underpinning if you if you're not
1:44
familiar what a kernel is it's just kind
1:46
of like the the main underpinning of
1:48
what the OS is built on uh we're going
1:50
to replace that with the Android kernel
1:51
so that we better align um Chrome OS and
1:54
Android so that new features probably
1:56
lots of AI stuff but new features can be
1:59
rolled out much easier so if the Android
2:01
team goes and builds a new feature for
2:03
Android for Pixel phones and we want to
2:06
see that on Chromebooks instead of
2:07
rebuilding it for a completely different
2:09
operating system in a completely
2:11
different kernel they build it once and
2:12
go yeah we want to put that on the
2:13
Chromebook cool turn it on make it make
2:15
it a thing over there on Chrome OS so
2:17
before we move on to anything else I do
2:18
want to read this is specifically what
2:20
Google said about this transition to
2:22
continue rolling out Google AI features
2:24
told you it was about AI uh to users at
2:27
a faster and even larger scale will be
2:29
embrac ing portions of the Android stack
2:31
like the Android Linux kernel and
2:33
Android Frameworks as a part of the
2:35
foundation of Chrome OS we already have
2:37
a strong history of collaboration with
2:39
Android apps available on Chrome OS and
2:40
the start of unifying Bluetooth Stacks
2:43
as of Chrome OS 122 remember this was
2:45
back in the summer uh bringing the
2:47
Android based Tech stack into Chrome OS
2:49
will allow us to accelerate the pace of
2:51
AI Innovations at the core of Chrome OS
2:53
simplifying engineering efforts and help
2:55
different devices like phones and
2:57
accessories work better together with
2:58
Chromebooks at the same time will
3:00
continue to deliver unmatched security
3:02
consistent look and feel extensive
3:03
management capabilities that chromos
3:05
users Enterprise and schools love so
3:08
translation here it's exactly what I
3:10
said there at the beginning specifically
3:12
Google is changing that underpinning and
3:15
lots of the stuff that basically can run
3:17
on Android will be capable on Chrome OS
3:20
they never said that Chrome OS was going
3:21
away and in fact in that statement even
3:24
said um that schools and Enterprises
3:26
alike would still be able to rely on
3:28
Chrome OS for all the Simplicity
3:30
security speed all that kind of stuff
3:31
that they have become accustomed to
3:33
additionally when we reached out to
3:35
Google about this exact thing they also
3:37
assured us that we're not seeing any job
3:40
losses from this we're not seeing
3:41
shuffling around or downsizing or any of
3:43
that kind of stuff and Google promise
3:45
that all the stuff that uh Enterprise
3:48
users and schools need to have uh at
3:51
their disposal because of the years of
3:53
using Chrome OS are not going anywhere
3:55
and as a quick side note at the end of
3:57
that statement I just read from Google
3:59
they didn't just say education users and
4:01
Enterprise users they actually said
4:03
Chrome OS users so they're talking about
4:05
people like you probably watching this
4:06
video consumers who have bought
4:08
Chromebooks like they're not going to
4:09
come in and just rip everything out and
4:12
put Android in its place and shrug their
4:13
shoulders and say sorry before I move on
4:15
to the rumors here's a quick practical
4:18
example that Google uh brought up when
4:20
we talked to them about this um imagine
4:22
like the AI wallpapers that we have on
4:24
Chromebooks now when that feature was
4:25
rolled into Chrome OS it was already a
4:27
thing on Pixel months prior but instead
4:30
of being able to just take what they
4:31
already did on Pixel and go hey let's
4:33
just put this on the Chromebook they'd
4:34
go and rebuild the whole thing and try
4:36
to make it kind of the same and utilize
4:38
some of the same Tools in different ways
4:40
and get creative about how it would work
4:41
on a Chromebook if all of this is in
4:44
place instead of that happening they
4:45
would just go oh that was a cool thing
4:47
people like this on Pixel you want this
4:49
on Chromebook sure I want this on
4:50
Chromebook boom move it over so now
4:52
let's talk about the rumors and some of
4:54
the other stuff that went around so that
4:55
that happened in in the summer Google
4:57
came out and said hey this is what we're
4:58
doing um I I even wrote In My article
5:02
with that like this is going to fuel
5:03
some stuff it's going to fuel some
5:04
rumors that that chromos is going away
5:06
it's going to fuel rumors that uh
5:08
Android's taking over that they're
5:09
they're going to join them together into
5:10
one Mega operating system and I I went
5:13
back and read my post and I'm like yeah
5:15
I I think I kind of nailed it there like
5:18
that's not going to happen and and that
5:19
but that's what's going to be said is
5:20
happening and so some rumors obviously
5:22
came up and there's some stuff going on
5:24
for sure uh that we actually have to
5:27
talk about so the first rumor came out
5:29
uh a few months later that basically
5:32
instead of just the Android framework
5:34
and and Android kernel being put in
5:36
place instead we were going to see a
5:38
complete overhaul Chrome OS is shoved
5:40
out and here comes Android to the rescue
5:43
and uh we'll get into why I don't think
5:45
that's even close to what's going to
5:47
happen um but ultimately you got to
5:49
think how big Google is across the board
5:52
how many divisions they have how many
5:54
offices they run how many employees they
5:56
have and different things get passed
5:58
around all the time and and internally
6:01
there can be rumors that happen there
6:03
too and so um this I don't know this for
6:06
sure but my guess would be that the news
6:09
that came out in the summer about you
6:11
know Android uh the Android kernel
6:13
replacing the Chrome OS kernel kind of
6:16
spiraled out of control a little bit and
6:18
basically the rumor became well Android
6:21
is going to be on Chromebooks now and
6:23
functionally speaking in some ways
6:25
that's kind of going to be true if if
6:27
you build Chrome OS on top of the
6:29
foundation of Android it kind of is
6:31
Android but it doesn't mean it's going
6:33
to be like the Android that's on my
6:34
phone is not going to be the Android
6:36
that's on a Chromebook and it's not
6:37
going to be like the the pixel tablet
6:39
Android is going to be the Android on a
6:41
Chromebook uh the two don't have to
6:43
necessarily be the same thing but that
6:44
was quickly followed up by another rumor
6:46
of a new device called the pixel laptop
6:49
and in this particular rumor it was said
6:51
this thing is going to run Android um
6:53
and so now it got really confusing to go
6:56
okay well is this thing going to try to
6:58
run some version of Chrome OS or is this
7:01
going to be just like a new version of
7:03
Android and we still don't really know
7:05
and again these are rumors that come
7:07
from internal sources and so while I
7:09
don't think anyone's trying to mislead
7:11
anybody I don't think that that's
7:12
happening at all these rumors sometimes
7:14
can get out of hand where one person saw
7:16
something and then they misinterpreted
7:18
it and then they passed it to somebody
7:19
else and it comes from an internal
7:21
source but they're not exactly sure
7:24
what's going on behind the scenes and so
7:26
when you start putting one and two
7:27
together you go W pixel laptop that
7:30
seems like it would run Android and they
7:32
said some stuff's going on with Android
7:33
so maybe it's just going to run Android
7:35
and they're just going to get rid of
7:36
Chromebooks or they're going to get rid
7:37
of Chrome OS but there's no definitive
7:39
proof of any of this stuff happening so
7:41
instead of running crazy over here with
7:43
rumors that Chrome OS is dead and
7:45
Android's going to replace it somehow
7:47
which again if they could have done that
7:49
by now I think they would have just done
7:51
that um instead of running with that or
7:53
instead of going over here and going
7:55
well there's just no way any of this is
7:56
true it's all rumor it's all speculation
7:57
nothing's happening let's find a a
8:00
middle ground where both of these things
8:02
can kind of be true and and let me show
8:04
you how that could actually happen first
8:06
up you got to remember there are
8:08
thousands and thousands of schools and
8:10
thousands and thousands of business
8:12
equaling millions and millions of users
8:15
that rely on Chromebooks and Chrome OS
8:17
to do their stuff whether it's teaching
8:19
in a classroom whether it's learning in
8:21
a classroom or whether it's carrying out
8:23
business and as we saw this fall with
8:25
the uh Chrome Summit I mean Chrome OS
8:29
and Chrome Flex is being used in so many
8:32
different ways already and it's just
8:34
continuing to grow so by the time any of
8:36
these transitions happen they're going
8:38
to have to account for all of that stuff
8:39
and yes I know Google kills stuff a lot
8:42
but they kill software things that are
8:43
used by consumers they don't generally
8:46
tend to kill off massive things that are
8:49
used at the Enterprise level for paying
8:51
customers and so you got to remember
8:53
that difference there too Google has a
8:54
massive user base that they have to
8:56
continue to serve with this and as
8:57
Android stands right now it just can't
9:00
do the things that Chrome OS can do from
9:02
those Vantage points however again
9:04
that's not me saying nope this isn't
9:05
happening I don't believe any of it
9:07
obviously the Android kernel is coming
9:10
uh more Android Frameworks are coming
9:11
the underpinning of Chrome OS is going
9:14
to change but it can change for the
9:16
better without having to completely rip
9:17
out the OS now imagine the the Android
9:20
kernel working and and doing its thing
9:22
on a Chromebook and installing an
9:24
Android app and never having to worry
9:25
about whether or not it's going to see
9:27
it as an emulator or maybe it doesn't
9:29
work on on uh uh laptops or it doesn't
9:31
work on a big screen or small screen or
9:33
whatever think about U what the
9:35
experience you have with something like
9:37
a pixel tablet or a Samsung tablet where
9:39
you go to the Play Store you expect
9:41
everything to work stuff may not be
9:43
aligned on the screen very well and it
9:44
may not take advantage of a bigger
9:45
screen but it's going to install and
9:47
work because it's Android Chrome OS with
9:50
the underpinnings of Android with the
9:52
Android kernel in place could behave
9:54
that exact same way so now you have
9:56
Android apps and services and run times
9:58
and stuff that can just work on
9:59
Chromebooks without really having to
10:01
worry about anything but also remember
10:02
that the Android kernel is a Linux
10:04
kernel and the chrom OS kernel as it
10:06
stands right now is a Linux kernel so
10:08
they're still both Linux kernel so yes
10:10
we're moving to the Android version of
10:12
the Linux kernel but it's still Linux
10:13
kernel which means you can still keep
10:16
all the stuff on top of Chrome OS that's
10:18
there right now so when you talk about
10:20
speed Simplicity security Google can't
10:22
sacrifice on those things they have been
10:25
pillars of Chrome OS for over a decade
10:27
now and again there are far too many
10:30
schools and Enterprise users and just
10:32
regular users that depend on this stuff
10:34
dayto day they can't just throw all that
10:36
stuff in the garbage and I don't think
10:37
they're going to have to just because
10:39
that kernel changes doesn't mean the the
10:41
top surfaced parts of Chrome OS like the
10:44
UI and the way that you go about doing
10:46
things and setting up stuff and
10:47
deploying Chromebooks and all those
10:49
great things about chromeos those things
10:51
don't have to change and so when you
10:52
look at it from that vantage point and
10:53
realize yeah stuff is changing I'm not
10:55
I'm not shying away from the fact that
10:57
there are some underpinning changes
10:58
happening
10:59
uh but it isn't it isn't just ones and
11:01
zeros here it's not like black and white
11:04
where if if they're going to change this
11:05
thing over here all of it has to go like
11:07
we got to throw out everything and start
11:09
all over that's just not realistic at
11:12
all and if you really stop and think
11:13
about it for a second why would Google
11:15
even bother doing that what would the
11:17
motivation be for them to do that yeah I
11:19
know they want to add features a little
11:20
bit faster but you would you really dare
11:23
to upset Millions upon millions of
11:25
customers by swapping out Android for
11:28
Chrome OS when you could instead find a
11:31
way to underpin it with some of the cool
11:33
stuff from Android share a lot more
11:35
features between the two operating
11:36
systems but largely keep the same
11:39
operating system in place that is
11:40
working for millions of people and when
11:42
you hear it said like that and you think
11:43
about it like that that just makes a lot
11:46
more sense now again I don't know
11:48
exactly what's going to happen no one
11:50
knows exactly what's going to happen
11:51
we've asked they won't tell us we're not
11:53
sure and it's going to play out over the
11:55
next 18 months 24 months something like
11:57
that and we'll know sooner than later
12:00
honestly uh what exactly is going to go
12:02
down but for right now I have to tell
12:05
you if you're looking at this and going
12:06
I don't know if I would buy a Chromebook
12:08
cuz maybe they're going to go away or
12:09
their uh Chrome OS is just going to
12:11
cease to exist or everything's going to
12:13
change so much that it's not worth
12:14
investing in Chromebooks anymore I just
12:17
don't think that's what's happening um
12:19
are they going to change yes I think
12:21
there are some going to be some
12:21
fundamental changes but I think most of
12:23
these fundamental changes are going to
12:24
be for the better again that's me
12:27
speculating that's me giving you my
12:29
opinion on on the situation and none of
12:31
us have all the facts but I think
12:33
between denying that anything's
12:35
happening and acting like everything's
12:37
going to get burnt down there's probably
12:39
a truth in the middle that usually ends
12:42
up being what's actually going to happen
12:44
but guys that's it for this one if you
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