Very smart move. Wish there would be an official way to turn my old PC into a new Mac.
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Google's ChromeOS Flex Now Available to Turn Old Macs into Chromebooks
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I always 🤣 when a customer would bring in their PC complaining about how it was running slow, acting funny, getting annoying pop-up messages, etc. and when I turn it on, I see that their web browser looked like this
Although I'm not surprised by the snark in this thread regarding Chrome OS, I am surprised by the low quality of the snark. Come on people... get on your game!
....back on topic...
It's a bad idea to use ChromeOS Flex. Not because it is ChromeOS-based, but because it is still in development and very unstable. People whose only experience with ChromeOS is ChromeOS Flex is going to come away from that experience with a sour view of Chrome OS.
Even a bargain-basement chromebook, like the Lenovo Chromebook 3 (currently on sale for $99 at Best Buy) will provide a better experience. This is one of the chromebooks that I own and it's a great little knock around device. 4GB RAM/64GB storage, headphone jack, 2x USB-C, 2x USB-A, and support for microSD.
I do too. That'll never happen, but I do run High Sierra in a VM on my Windows 10-based Lenovo Yoga 6. I find that it runs surprisingly well.
....back on topic...
It's a bad idea to use ChromeOS Flex. Not because it is ChromeOS-based, but because it is still in development and very unstable. People whose only experience with ChromeOS is ChromeOS Flex is going to come away from that experience with a sour view of Chrome OS.
Even a bargain-basement chromebook, like the Lenovo Chromebook 3 (currently on sale for $99 at Best Buy) will provide a better experience. This is one of the chromebooks that I own and it's a great little knock around device. 4GB RAM/64GB storage, headphone jack, 2x USB-C, 2x USB-A, and support for microSD.
Yes we'd rather have an OS that has software and isn't dependent on an internet connection.
I'm trying dammit!
Even super old versions of MacOS and WindowsOS are better than ChromeOS in every single way. Who would do this to themselves?
I remember the days you could go buy a Chrome Book and turn it into a HackinBook...
I don't doubt your comments but I am curious what is unstable? If someone was going to use Flex for basic web browsing/banking and email, where would the instability come in? Random crashes? Freezing? Something else?
People who do online banking is one group of people. Super old versions of Mac OS are not getting updates, Safari is not getting updates and there are limits to what the latest browsers from Chrome can install on old OS's.
Or maybe a parent who has an old laptop, kid needs a chromebook for school, now they can do it without spending a dime. Not everyone is willing or able to just up and spend money on a new computer when they can do something for free that gives them some modern functionality.
Main problem with old macOS is serious security vulnerabilities. If you can use one of the macOS patchers to run unsupported macOS, that is the way. If not, Windows 10 or Linux probably. If this ChromeOS install works as well as it does on Chromebooks (I don't know if it does), it wouldn't be a bad option for a laptop you don't use for much -- easy security updates and something you can use for browsing (and maybe do some Linux via Crostini). I actually really like my Chromebook and ChromeOS, but its definitely not my main laptop.
- intermittent sluggishness
- not all hardware on a device may be fully supported
- app shortcuts might not launch
Makes sense as a new product. I am sure the more people who use it the faster things will get patched and updated.
An old Mac running outdated macOS is likely more trouble than it’s worth to use and maintain than it would be for people who would benefit from ChromeOS Flex. It’s meant to keep old devices secure and usable without hassle.
I agree. I'm testing it to see how it compares to native Chrome OS on Chrome hardware.
My concern is, since its initial availability, the tech bloggers and Chrome OS advocates have jumped all over it and advocating widespread use. It's not ready for prime time. This is going to give Chrome OS a sour taste to those who aren't familiar with Chrome OS.
I've seen the same thing happen with OS/2 (I was a developer on that project), and especially Linux where every year is "the year of Linux on the desktop".
I could see it staining the ChromeOS for sure, but I wonder how many people will actually jump on this. First I would say it will probably be more "techies" who give this a shot, and not your average older mom and dad. If I had an older computer I would give this a try purely out of curiosity. I am not a fan of ChromeOS for my needs but again see the benefits (of a stable ChomeOS) for older machines and extending their life span rather then ending up in the landfill where Apple wants them.
Well I tried it on an old PC Laptop. Just for kicks. I have never tried ChromeOS before for obvious reasons, I would never buy a Chromebook.
Install went smoothly and after a reboot it asked to connect to wifi and sign in. So I tried signing in with a spare GMail account that I use for non important stuff and trials.
Well whaddya know, it will not go forward without entering a phone number and getting a verification code. No option to verify account in any other way.
While I do have a GMail account with my phone number associated, I do not want to use it for this experiment.
I would imagine if I tried to create a new account, it would require a phone number to verify as well.
Install went smoothly and after a reboot it asked to connect to wifi and sign in. So I tried signing in with a spare GMail account that I use for non important stuff and trials.
Well whaddya know, it will not go forward without entering a phone number and getting a verification code. No option to verify account in any other way.
While I do have a GMail account with my phone number associated, I do not want to use it for this experiment.
I would imagine if I tried to create a new account, it would require a phone number to verify as well.
I hate when they ask for phone numbers and extra info just to load an OS. I have a bunch of gmail accounts I use for various things and I know some of them I cannot use because it was demanding I added a phone number to the account, others it did not ask for anything
Yay! I can finally convert my old 2011 MBP into a brand-new, state-of-the-art, revenue-generating spyware agent!
You know how else you can keep old devices secure and usable without hassle? Basic internet common sense like not visiting suspicious sites. Antivirus also helps. You don't need ChromeOS Flex to keep old devices secure and usable.