On July 14, after five months in beta, the official release of ChromeOS Flex took place – this, recall, is a special optimized version of ChromeOS (by the way, now its name is written together without a space between Chrome and OS), developed primarily for companies and educational institutions and intended for run on older Windows PCs and Macs.
Google bought developer CloudReady in 2020 
CloudReady is a project of an operating system based on Chromium OS, designed to reanimate morally and physically obsolete Windows and Mac computers. and it is through this agreement that ChromeOS Flex was born. It’s also significant that Google launched ChromeOS Flex less than a year after the release of Windows 11, leaving millions of older PCs without an up-to-date OS due to excessive system hardware requirements and poor communications. And Google did this after Microsoft failed with the 10X light version of Windows, which was finally canceled and disassembled into components. ChromeOS Flex has been in Early Access since February and is now in a stable build aimed at a wide range of users. During testing, ChromeOS Flex developers fixed 600 different bugs.
Google assures that ChromeOS Flex can be installed in minutes and promises that the OS can work normally on devices of venerable age (up to 13 years old). Actually, almost 400 devices have already been certified that can work with Flex without any problems. The official list of supported devices is dominated by Windows PCs from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, Toshiba, and other OEMs, but also includes some older Macs, including 10-year-old MacBook models. To install the OS, you need to download the image from the official site and transfer it to a bootable USB flash drive.
Google guarantees Flex support until 2030 on most compatible devices, with only a handful of devices going out of support in 2022 or 2023.
“Every day we work on certification, and even if the device is not yet certified, you can still try ChromeOS Flex”
Thomas Riddle,
director of products, business and education at Google
Non-officially supported devices may experience minor bugs, stability issues, or loading issues.
Google separately notes the great potential of ChromeOS Flex for corporate use. Recently, Nordic Choice Hotels, one of the largest hotel companies in Scandinavia, was the victim of a ransomware hack – using Flex, the administration managed to restore the functionality of at least 2,000 computers in 48 hours.
ChromeOS Flex looks and works exactly like regular Chrome OS on any Chromebook—they share the same codebase and development cycles. However, be aware that there are certain components that ChromeOS Flex either cannot work with or Google has not tested compatibility with, such as fingerprint readers, optical drives, IR webcams, proprietary connectors, stylus input, and Thunderbolt capabilities. There may also be issues with some features, even on certified models, such as Bluetooth, touch screens, screen rotation, function keys, key combinations, and SD card readers.
So in summary, Chromebooks have certainly proven to the world that there is a powerful alternative to Windows, especially in education, where Chromebooks have historically excelled due to their combination of affordability and Google services. So, Chrome OS Flex is another alternative to Windows. And quite good, given the very modest hardware requirements.
Chrome OS Flex system requirements
