Early this year, evidence came out revealing that Google was working on a project called “AltOS” which would enable Chrome OS users to run other operating systems on their machines. Now, a new feature may deliver proper dual-boot support for multiple Chromebooks in the future…
Spotted by XDA-Developers, “Campfire” is a new project for Chrome OS which, when active, may allow Chromebook owners to dual-boot Windows 10 on their devices. This isn’t something that would work exclusively on the Pixelbook either, as the code mentioned clearly lays out that multiple Chromebooks would be able to use this feature.
How would this all work? Well for one, before anyone gets too excited, there are some big limits on this. Google isn’t just flipping a switch and letting every Chromebook owner do this. Rather, the machine would have to be verified by the OEM to support Windows 10, probably just like Google did recently for the Pixelbook. This feature also wouldn’t require running developer mode like other dual-booting options have in the past.
Another huge limitation of this feature comes in the way of storage. Most Chromebooks on the market are lucky to ship with 32GB of storage on board, but “Campfire” would require about 40GB as the minimum amount of storage for everything to work properly. That puts a strict limit on what can and cannot utilize this, and adds more credence to the idea that this would arrive first on Google’s own hardware.
The feature itself also wouldn’t require much technical knowledge to get up and running. Apparently, it’s going to work fairly similarly to Apple’s Boot Camp feature.
9to5Google’s Take
Chromebooks have always held a special place in my workflow, but I rarely find myself being able to stick to them all the time because of crucial apps in my lifestyle. Being able to dual-boot Windows 10 on hardware as excellent as the Pixelbook is a big deal if you ask me, and it could really shake up the industry.
Premium Chromebooks are often much nicer than Windows devices at the same price point, so being able to get the best of both worlds would be absolutely fantastic. Hopefully, Google will reveal more on this front soon. After all, a second-gen Pixelbook is coming…
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