If you want a less limited experience, install a linux distro (like PopOS or Fedora) for very similar performance

Does Flex have have a dark mode?

@@JohnSmith-xq1pz It's coming to version 105. The latest version is 104.

chromeos sucks, get a linux distro based on ubuntu. ubuntu based distros are super easy to use, apt is the easiest package manager ever. it also has more apps and you can even run windows programs on it through wine.

@@BotanistOnDuna Chrome OS is a ChromiumOS-based Distro. You can install Linux Apps.

True but they also did alot of "under the hood" tweaks to bring Flex in line with stock Chrome OS. To be honest I owned a Acer Chromebook Cb3-111 and if all you do is stuff in the browser (which is how Chrome OS was born) then its fine for a side machine. I've got it running on 2 older system (one is a lenovo thinkpad L512 and the other is a Lenovo chromebook x131e that became unsupported) and it runs fine on both. Again nothing groundbreaking but good enough for basic computing.

CloudReady turns into CentOS 2.0 basically, epic EEE move from Google.

im going to be honest i have used chromiumos and i am not really sure what your point is because chromiumos with google apps installed is borderline identical to normal chromeos, probably always better because chromeos can be locked so you don't have permissions to enable developer mode but if you compile chromiumos yourself that does not apply

in the chromiumos i installed there was even google play store and the android apps worked on x86 CPU which seems to be the big issue for some people, i have a video of it on my channel edit: nvm that is a chromeos build but i used a chormiumos separately and i could post videos of that if someone asks

@@tacokoneko which Chromium OS build are you talking about?

can you tell me how u did it

Older chromebooks have no support under chromeOS flex due to their locked down boot protocol

@@mxmobile5619 With some modding, you can get past that locked boot protocol on some chromebooks.

@@helloworld145 “with some modding”. Yes you can with some modding but realistically most people will look at the underpowered hardware and lack of official support and call it a day.

@@tanawatjukmongkol2178 You don't understand. in the most recent chromebooks, the bootloader is locked and you cannot install linux or even chromeos flex. that made me not buy a chromebook. I bought a used windows 10 business laptop instead and boot win10, ubuntu, fedora, android and chromeos on it.

@@mxmobile5619 yeah I thought that

Most Chromebooks are x86 and can run Android apps. It's just Google keeping certain features exclusive to the "official" ChromeOS.

@@ilan6291 what features exactly were removed?

This is just google wanting some more user data....

Android programs are written in Java and more recently, Kotlin, they're both interpreted programming languaje (a.k.a. not compiled), so the underlying hardware is irrelevant as long as there's a full featured interpreter (e.g. Dalvik).

It's a cut edition. Some kind of shareware but buy a Chromebook if you want more.

Exactly.

IDK why some people choose spyware over freedom

Honestly I'm only interested because of the possibility of running android apps but since that doesn't seem to be possible it's pretty much useless for me

@@Username-xr5bx they want to give responsibility to someone else.

@@bandiddums wdym you can run Android apps on Linux. There is way droid for Wayland.

it's a light weight Linux distro made by Google. give it a shot 😉

Now your talking !

Agreed...the limitations of the Chrome OS don't make it very appealing...I have something like a netbook (definitely more powerful) HP 3105m with 8gb RAM that I run Mint on and it works great...mostly use it for work and music in my den/workshop...I'm kind of curious if a version of the Chrome OS can be made to side load on an older Android tablet 🤔

Just installed Manjaro, Zorin and Mint linux distributions one after another on an old laptop - only one of those worked with internet and that one only recognised Ethernet too (others straight up denied both Ethernet and WiFi), I tried everything but couldn't get it to work although on windows they work just fine so issue is not hardware related. it's a 32 bit based CPU so not a lot of options to choose from (even among Linux distributions), just what's available soo yeah now I'm trying Chrome OS! Btw I tried win 10 32 bit too but it was too slow and laggy and Win 8.1 32 bit was a tad bit faster but still not very good...

Tried windows 7 32 bit too, worked wonderfully but as Microsoft's official Win 7 ISO isn't available, I had to get a 3rd party version with plenty of viruses and trojan on it... so I gave up on it

I am happy that google added this functionality, however. I think it might serve as a gateway drug to Linux, considering that ChromeOS is essentially a specialized version of it.

google moment

Not necessarily true, I was able to install Chrome OS Flex on an old HP OEM PC and an old Lenovo Thinkpad both which neither support UEFI or Secure Boot but was still able to boot and tinker around with Chrome OS Flex

My 16 year old laptop runs perfectly, no UEFI or whatever, just standard Bios. And I even managed to let it multiboot with Linux.

But he installed chrome os "flex" in this video

@@themonkeyman2790 that doesn’t matter, they’re essentially the same thing just for different hardware, the command still works

@@mla_den 👍

So we gonna go for the Dev one?

Maybe also take a look at lxde and wayfire.

I don't like Chrome even as a web browser... Even Edge is better

@@aleksandar6056 which is funny because edge is chromium based

@@KEN4K without any bloat* under the hood edge is based on chromium sure but i must say that chrome itself sucks, too much memory usage and whatnot. i've been using chrome for like 6-7 years and i am not even a microsoft fan but Edge IS way better than chrome in all aspects. that microsoft who is infamous for the bloat in their apps, for once they are doing good in something lol

ChromeOS is, to me, the iPad OS of computers

I'll install Chrome OS just to try it for like a week but I won't stick with it. Just like how I install a random Linux distro from time to time. Edge has the necessary tools that a browser needs without the garbage bloatwares of chrome

Down dumbing. Today's mainstream consumer is not supposed to being able to do such complicated things like decide between 2(Two!) options.

If a person is advanced enough to go into boot manager, they can definitely select their boot drive. Maybe google thinks grandmas will install this

I’m sure it’s a bug since flex is still in development. Maybe they just automatically install on the drive with more storage (which is still stupid).

Same, but i prefer Ubuntu with MATE / xfce UI

@@tilsgee i also prefer xfce as gui and brave as browser

It's not that great actually, it's not fully open source. I wouldn't trust it. I prefer using a lightweight distro on the LXQt desktop enviroment of XFCE.

@@Cavi587 for noobies its good

@@Cavi587 hey, at least it's better than chromeOS Flex, right? XD

Well it was just released recently, so I guess Google might add Google Play support at some point.

Just install Android then?

I wonder if Bluestack will work. Then you will have game support. This program works great on my Windows 11 laptop.

There's a modified version of Chrome OS that supports Google Play for all computers

Just emulate an arm64 virtual machine?

@Matt React It depends. The Web has been built to be a kind of "safe" OS. With HTML5 and all the applications that run on Javascript libraries, you can do quite a lot within your web browser. I've even used a text editor designed to behave like vim attached to Google Drive all in the web browser.

I'm a tad disappointed that Mozilla didn't do the same with Firefox - but then again a lightweight Linux with Firefox is about the same, it's just annoying that Google has the space all to itself.

It’s good for people for use Google products a lot like docs or gmail. Just basic internet usage, good for older people

@@paulstubbs7678 a Firefox os would have less bloat and Spyware than chrome os. Idk if it would be better than standard Linux tho.

@@paulstubbs7678 there was fire fox os but it failed

@@kevinwong_2016 Interesting, never saw that one mentioned anywhere, no wonder it failed. At that time (Chrome OS debut) all I remember from Mozilla was a new phone OS that wasn't compatible with anything, so kind of useless (as in what were they thinking)

It’s better for people who just need to use the internet or older people with no tech knowledge. I would never install this on my computer, but I might on my parent’s pc.

I think just putting a Linux distribution straight on there would be a lot better to revive that Dell Optiplex system. It saves you all that playing around with ChromeOS which at the end of the day doesn't really give you a lot more possibilities than Linux. Maybe you can't have the actual Microsoft Solitaire Collection on there (although it's possible but needs some fiddling with Wine etc), but there's a lot of alternatives on there too. Linux is great when it comes to compatibility and support for old computers. I have a few old laptops and PC's that would simply refuse to run Windows 10 or even Windows 7 in some cases, but they work perfectly on lightweight Linux distributions that are always up to date and usable.

just install a linux distro such as lubuntu or peppermint os i can assure you it will be faster than chrome os

There's also a Chrome OS Flex alternative called Fyde OS. It's based on Chrome OS and it supports Android apps. But it requires at least 3rd gen Intel Core CPU or any 64 bit Intel and AMD CPUs released in 2012 and newer in order to run properly

I recommend installing OpenSuse or Fedora KDE spin. Both are essentically ChromeOS but with a better UI, better app support, and dont have google spyware.

@@sihamhamda47 I installed it and it's the best chrome os flex alternative 💪

@@stinkyrat8498 I'm a big Linux user, but for some basic tasks (in particular the internet navigation) I find ChromeOs having better performances on lower specs notebooks

I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you’re referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX. Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called “Linux”, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project. There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine’s resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called “Linux” distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

Average Linux user

@@vaseklepic12 you know what I mean by linux

@@turle8645 linux is the best os

GNU/Linux is only great for server room trolls and basement dwelling IT goblins. Some of us use computers to make money, literally I quit my day job and now make money off of my pc. There's really no time for "Linux" I installed it last week and lasted 2 days and reverted back to windows. I actually just received a notification that I've been paid for the month, something that would be impossible using "Linux". It's pretty, it's fast and secure (I suffered a ransomeware attack which prompted me to switch to Linux) but none of my upgrades work properly such as my audio and gpu. Nah thanks

No you're awesome

A good benefit of Chromebooks are the Support for Android Apps. Linux hast this Feature too but you need more cpu

Maybe, still looking into it

Why? Every OS they ever did is focused on advertising. Just install an honest linux distribution.

@@radu1337 Because this is a video about Chrome OS Flex and not anything else and I was pointing out a small mistake in the video? You can have your gripes about Google's advertising and data collection policies, but that's literally their business. They wouldn't exist at this point in time otherwise. Flex does a great job of what it's meant to do easily. The demographic for it and Linux are not the same.

I installed Android x86 in VmWare once

I believe Remix OS exists which is basically Android x86 with a more desktop friendly GUI

Unfortunately, Android is far more locked down than Windows.

This is what I would do instantly

You can try but it will take some work

@@ThioJoe i got it working now

I tried getting this to work in VirtualBox but had no luck. The farthest I was able to get was a loading screen which got nowhere. Apparently VMware users have had better luck though.

@@schnow265 If you haven't done that already you can't do it instantly.

🙋👍🏻

Yes i support oss but alphabet is fine

I use Pop_OS myself. Works somewhat good on my Toshiba (Dynabook) Satellite laptop. It even supports a Bluetooth dongle I've been using. ChromeOS Flex doesn't seem to support external BT dongles, AFAIK.

and that's exactly why they removed it

Literally, I think the only other reason you could install it is for speed or if you mainly use the internet and Google stuff like drive

I hope not. Windows is already there, if you want to rival that: Linux. ChromeOS and Flex as well, they are perfectly fitted for the job they need to do. Don't let it get too big and allround like Windows.

A big corporation made closed source OS to replace another big corporation made closed source OS? Seems like the same deal for me, just a different brand. Just use Linux, it's already better than Windows in most cases and it's not built to collect data on it's users. Gaming is one thing that still needs to be worked on, but since the Steam Deck came out (it runs on Linux) there's been many breakthroughs in Linux gaming. You can basically play most games comfortably now.

You can install Antix Linux lxde on the 32 bit PC, its light with a full desktop and comes with a light weight Browser.

No problem!

No. Don't forget Linux distributions.

mean I guess that's cool but I mean, still the rest is pretty much a plan b for anyone wanting to get an old laptop working smooth

I think Linux is the better choice here for both the first choice and the last chance. Linux will just run on everything.

@@Cavi587 but chrome OS is a more mainstream version, allot of people don't know or haven't used linux and chrome OS is a more easier to use program

@@abdullah-_-. I would disagree. 10 years ago I would agree, but as of right now Linux is a lot more friendly to new users. Basically if you've ever used Windows, you'll be able to use a Linux distro with any of the common Desktop Enviroments. Also, ChromeOS isn't completely open source. Linux gives you the freedom any other OS can't.

Have a look around linux systems they are far more versatile if up to date apps are important have a look at fedora or if stability is important have a look at debian or look at any forks of both. They can be lighter faster have more apps and are much more customisable.

@@kim-hendrikmerk4163 My dad is afraid of starting a nuclear apocalypse just by turning on his system. No way in hell I'm gonna give him a system where you need a masters degree just to launch the web browser.

@@MWSfan18 What? You don't need a master's degree. Where did you hear that from?

Linux is just as easy as Windows. If he can use Windows he can use most graphical Linux distributions. Put Lubuntu or Kubuntu in it and for most tasks it's just like Windows. Just pin Firefox on the taskbar and he can open the web browser in one click. I installed Linux Mint with Cinnamon on my friends computer (another great easy to use Linux) and she uses it to view photos she takes with her camera with no problem and she was computer illiterate.

Great point. I forgot you can install Android on a PC. That might be more flexible than turning the old hardware to a chrome book. Might experiment with that when I have the time...

Yeah totally, Linux running on an old computer with low ram runs pretty well. Plus there are so many distros to choose from.

Not for very basic computer users

@@Marcel-dd9ch Even for them. Times have changed: It's very easy to install, runs very fast, does not sell your data, can run the basic programs needed by a "basic computer user" out of the box, is way more capable and adaptable than Chrome OS.

@@Philipp.. But you Linux apps collect and use your data in common linux distributions after a normal installation, until you harden your system. And no, not all Open Source tools are secure. Take logj ss an example.

ChromeOS is much more secure and easier to use for basic computer users. Any Linux applications can do anything with your data in a normal Linux distribution, if you don't do a lot to block that. On top of that, ChromeOS has sandboxes for everything. With Linux, you may use Flatpak, to reach the same level of security.

Firefox (and its spinoffs) is pretty much the only good browser left sadly.

If it's an old computer you're not using maybe

@@ThioJoe At that point Linux would make more sence (especially OpenSuse).

alternatives: librewolf(forked Firefox) Firefox, chromium(open source of chrome. there is more but these are good I know.

@@kittenzrulz2314 why open suse