OS updates, upgrades, and ChromeOS Flex

Now that you have ChromeOS up and running, let’s talk about keeping it up and running! A large part of maintaining a healthy OS is ensuring that routine maintenance activities are performed. In this section, we will introduce two of the most important maintenance tasks that administrators can perform on their ChromeOS devices: updates and upgrades. We will also explore Google’s solution for making ChromeOS more hardware independent with the release of ChromeOS Flex.

Importance of ChromeOS updates

Updates are an important task on ChromeOS. Administrators need to ensure that updates are being performed on a regular basis, so the latest and greatest tools and features are always available for use on the platform. Updates also ensure that your device and OS are protected against potential cybersecurity risks. We’ll discuss the process of updating ChromeOS more in-depth in Chapter 4, ChromeOS Security.

Upgrade time

Although updates are a critical part of maintaining a healthy ChromeOS installation, there will come a time when they aren’t enough. This occurs when Google releases a change to ChromeOS that is so drastic that a mere patch to the existing software won’t suffice. This is when we need to perform an upgrade. An upgrade replaces the current version of ChromeOS with a newer version of the software, which incorporates all major enhancements and bug fixes. Some of the benefits of performing upgrades when they become available are as follows:

• Improved performance and stability
• Corrections to identified errors in the OS source code
• A new and enhanced feature experience

We’ll discuss the process of performing ChromeOS upgrades in-depth in Chapter 4, ChromeOS Security.

Hardware flexibility with ChromeOS Flex

In previous versions of ChromeOS, the OS was bound to specific hardware. This meant in order to get access to ChromeOS, you had to purchase a Chromebook or Chromebox device. It also meant that as your device aged, it would eventually no longer be able to support the most up-to-date version of the OS. Although this isn’t a problem unique to Chrome’s OS, Google is one of the few vendors who have provided a solution other than purchasing upgraded hardware. That solution is ChromeOS Flex.

In 2022, Google released ChromeOS Flex as a way for people to continue to utilize aging computer hardware. What makes ChromeOS Flex so powerful is that it can be installed on any PC or Mac. Systems that were once bound for landfills and recycling plants are now able to be reborn as ChromeOS devices. Once ChromeOS Flex is installed onto a system, it provides the same functionality and user experience as a native ChromeOS device.