Running ChromeOS Flex on all sorts of odd, old, and new hardware [VIDEO]

ChromeOS Flex – the version of ChromeOS that can run on all sorts of old or new laptops – is a wildly useful, incredibly flexible OS that serves all sorts of purposes from reviving old hardware to saving huge companies from massive ransomware attacks. And though we talked about quite a bit around here when it first arrived, there’s a good chance you’ve never really had a look at just how malleable this operating system can be. Today, we’re going to show you.

A bit of back story on ChromeOS Flex

A few years back when Google acquired NeverWare, we weren’t sure what would come of the purchase. A few years later, ChromeOS Flex was introduced and we had our answer.

It’s an OS just like what we have on Chromebooks, but it is easily installable on a massive array of old and new laptops, PCs, and Macbooks. It is updated right alongside the standard version of ChromeOS and it comes with all the same features and abilities – minus Android apps. Simply put, ChromeOS Flex is the same flexible, agile, cloud-based OS we love on Chromebooks, available to install on legacy hardware.

And this comes with some big benefits for educational institutions and businesses looking to streamline workflows, save money, and increase security. We all know ChromeOS has never had a single successful ransomware attack, and that security extends to ChromeOS Flex as well. In fact, a sizable hotel chain was able to update 1000’s of insecure, compromised devices in just 48 hours to ChromeOS Flex to quickly recover from a company-wide ransomware attack.

With ChromeOS Flex running well on so many older laptops, savings and reduced e-waste are pretty huge benefits, too. Not only will laptops updated to ChromeOS Flex be faster and more secure than they were, they’ll also be able to stay in use far longer and stay out of the landfill while doing so.

And then you have the ease of management to consider as well. ChromeOS by its nature is easy to manage and maintain, putting far less stress on IT crews to keep things secure, safe, updated, and running smoothly. In any setting where there are fleets of devices being used by an organization, ChromeOS – and ChromeOS Flex by extension – just makes way more sense than Windows.

With the same full access to Google Admin Console that standard Chromebooks enjoy, you can manage ChromeOS Flex machines right alongside Chromebooks, Chromeboxes, or Chromebases you may already have in your fleet. And there’s no need to get a specialized Chrome Enterprise or Google Workspace license either: it just works like you’d expect it to.

All sorts of devices running ChromeOS Flex

All but one of the devices you’ll see in the video are what the ChromeOS Flex team refers to as “certified”. That means they’ve been tested to be sure things like audio, video, network, trackpad, keyboard, USB and webcam all work so when you reference the certified list to decide if the move to ChromeOS Flex is right for you, you’ll know for sure that your devices have already been tested and work well.

However, even if they aren’t on that list, you can easily test ChromeOS Flex on a bootable USB stick, so you can run your own trials beforehand. We have a video all about the process that will take you through what is needed to try ChromeOS Flex out for yourself if you are interested.

Now, go watch the video! I’ve already talked enough, and that’s not at all the point of this entire project, is it? We wanted to show you all of this odd, old, and new hardware running Google’s ChromeOS Flex incredibly well, so that’s what we did. The video is comprehensive, but it really is fun to watch how well ChromeOS Flex operates on such a wide variety of hardware. So, grab a snack, sit back, and enjoy!