- ChromeOS Flex can now be purchased in kit form
- The $3 kit provides a USB stick and complete instructions to easily install the operating system
- Flex is intended to breathe new life into old hardware, specifically Windows 10 PCs that will soon run out of extended support
ChromeOS Flex is a lightweight OS designed to be easily installed on older PCs – like Windows 10 laptops – to provide a way to keep what would otherwise be outdated hardware usable, and it’s now even easier to install.
That’s because, as previously promised, Google, along with Back Market (an outfit that specializes in refurbished tech), now has a ChromeOS Flex kit available for purchase.
It costs $3 (or £3 in the UK, €3 in Europe) and for that outlay you get a USB stick containing the operating system and guides on how to install it.
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The Flex version of Google’s OS is largely the same as standard ChromeOS, albeit with some features cut, and with its very streamlined (cloud-focused) nature, it’s designed to run nicely on older hardware.
Google emphasizes the eco-friendly aspects here, telling us: “The manufacturing process of a new laptop is responsible for a large part of its carbon footprint. ChromeOS Flex allows the already manufactured device to be used for longer, keeping hardware out of landfills and avoiding the emissions of making a new device. Savings don’t stop there, compared to 19% of energy in ChromeOS as well.”
Look at
As the blog post announcing the arrival of the $3 kit makes clear, this is aimed at Windows 10 PCs, which will lose extended support (updates) for consumers in October six months from now. (Official support actually ended last October.)
It will also convert other machines, including some Macs, to ChromeOS Flex, and there’s a full list of compatible devices here (including caveats, such as if a webcam might not work with Google’s OS).
Analysis: Flex for the win
It’s a good idea to produce a dead user-friendly kit to try to recruit more PCs to the ChromeOS Flex fold. As Back Market puts it, it’s about “administering the cure” for the Windows 10 blues, and “side effects may include curiosity.”
All you have to do is turn off your laptop, insert the USB key into a free port, start the machine, and from the start menu install ChromeOS Flex from the USB key. As mentioned, full instructions are provided and the kit is commendably cheap at just a few dollars. The idea is that you can pass it on to others when you’re done, and since this is still a pilot program for now, there are a limited number of these kits. However, more will be made if they are popular.
You don’t need to buy a kit though, as you can make your own USB stick and install ChromeOS Flex by following our full guide here. However, the kit makes everything very novice-friendly, which is of course the idea.
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