After rolling out to Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux, version 77 of Chrome OS is now available. Notable Chrome OS 77 features include the wide launch of Virtual Desks and Google Assistant.
For nearly a year now, we’ve been anticipating the Google Assistant arriving on “all Chromebooks.” As Chrome OS 77 should be coming next week and the Assistant with it, here’s the 15 countries where the Google Assistant will work on Chromebooks.
Following the Mac, Windows, and Linux release, Chrome 77 for Android is now rolling out. There are tweaks to the Downloads page and wider availability of “Send this page” sharing.
Google is rolling out the latest version of Chrome for Mac, Windows, and Linux. Chrome 77 more widely introduces the “Send this page” cross-device sharing functionality. It also features a new favicon loading animation and welcome experience, as well as security improvements.
Late last year, we uncovered a list of devices that would never be able to support Chrome OS’s Linux apps (Crostini). At the time, we noted that the second-generation Chromebook Pixel from 2015 was not on this list, and that it in fact stood a chance of getting the necessary upgrades to support Linux apps. It seems that eight more devices are following suit to allow their owners to run Linux apps.
A few weeks ago, we learned that Google was working on a Chrome OS release notes web app, which would be tailored to your specific Chromebook. Google has now launched this simple web app (installable on Chrome OS) under the name “What’s New.”
Following version 76’s release on Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux, the next beta release of Google’s browser is rolling out. The Chrome 77 beta features a new welcome experience, and readies more customization options for the New Tab page and might bring Google Assistant to more Chromebooks.
While Chrome has long been customizable via themes from the Chrome Web Store, it’s not been easy for the average person to personalize their browser to their own unique tastes. Google is looking to fix this with a built-in easy-to-use custom theme generator for Chrome.
Google Chrome has long offered a variety of customization options, but now they’re pushing to make it easier than ever. The latest Google Chrome Canary adds twenty built-in themes and some customization options for the New Tab Page.
Last October, we discovered that Google intended for the new Google Assistant experience on Chrome OS to arrive on “all Chromebooks.” Eight months later, we’re finally seeing the fruit of this, as Google is enabling Assistant for all devices starting with Chrome OS 77.
Chrome OS has become one of the best operating systems on the market today by its ability to seamlessly combine traditional web browser experiences with progressive web apps, Android apps and Linux apps. Now, Google is looking at shaking up the Chrome OS experience, for better or worse, by sometimes preferring Android apps over web apps.
For years now, Google Chrome and Chrome OS have had matching options for how frequently you want to receive updates—Stable, Beta, Dev, and Canary. It seems Chrome OS is preparing to shake things up a bit with a new “Quick Fix” update channel for enterprise customers.
One of the best things about Chrome OS is how easy Google has made it to switch from one Chromebook to another, thanks to the variety of backup and sync options. The Chrome OS team appears to be improving this experience in the near future by also syncing WiFi passwords.
