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Google may add Windows 10 dual-boot option to Chromebooks
Google appears to be working on dual-boot support for Chromebooks. XDA-Developers has discovered that Google has been working to support an "alt OS mode" for its Pixelbook laptop for months now. Dubbed "Campfire," an obvious nod to Apple's own Boot Camp feature, Google's dual-boot is rumored to support Windows 10 on Chromebooks.
XDA-Developers claims Google is attempting to pass Microsoft's hardware certification for Windows 10 to allow its Pixelbook to officially run the alternative operating system. References to Microsoft's Windows Hardware Certification Kit have appeared in development builds of Chrome OS, and Google's Campfire work might extend to other new Chromebooks in the future.
Dual-boot support is said to be arriving on the Pixelbook soon, as Google engineers are pushing through multiple changes for Chrome OS to support the new feature.
That makes Google's recent attack ad a little funnier.
Also at Engadget, The Register, 9to5Google, Tom's Hardware, and CNET.
See also: Why cheap Chromebooks running Windows will benefit Google, not you
Related: ChromeOS Gains the Ability to Run Linux Applications
Google's Fuchsia OS Adds Emulator for Debian Linux Applications
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday August 14 2018, @07:06PM (3 children)
If WINE were to be included by default on Google machines, it should only be after Google provides some free development man hours to fix bugs.
ChromeOS can run Chrome web apps, Android, and Linux applications, so you can pick the best developed branch which I assume is not Android.
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(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday August 15 2018, @01:16PM (2 children)
Some Android apps are good. Not all Android apps work best on Chrome OS -- either in a technical sense, or a UI sense.
But you can pick and chews which ones you like. For example, computer algebra systems (CAS). Under Linux Xfce on pixelbook I can run wxMaxima. But on Android I also have two paid apps which are calculator emulators. Graph89 and HP Prime. Graph 89 emulates a TI 89, which I happen to own, and thus have the ROM. HP Prime is officially from HP and is the real HP Prime calculator but faster than the actual calculator even on low end phones. Both of these android apps provide a nice CAS on a big screen.
Some favorite apps are only Android.
While VLC is available on Android, I find that dropping into Xfce to run VLC works better and offers more controls.
Other apps (Gimp, LMMS, Inkscape, LibreOffice, etc) are only on Xfce. But one day soon may appear to be "native" Chrome OS apps and integrate directly into the window system of Chrome OS rather than run in a "desktop" Linux in a window.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday August 15 2018, @01:37PM (1 child)
I was thinking of WINE specifically. I doubt the Android version is the best pick, although I could be wrong, or it could be the best choice for ChromeOS.
I'll note that VideoLAN has released no less than THREE versions of VLC that could run on Pixel machines: Linux, Android, and ChromeOS (either released before Android for Chromebooks became widespread, or to target older/cheaper devices that are not going to receive the ability to run Android apps).
Actually, I guess it would be 4 versions. You could run VLC for Windows using WINE 😂.
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(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday August 15 2018, @03:42PM
You can run VLC on Windows natively. :-)
But you can run the Windows VLC on Wine, and run Wine on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Note that WSL is pretty much exactly what WINE does, but in reverse. Microsoft developed WSL to run Linux binaries on Windows.
I wonder just how different the Linux WINE and the Android WINE really are? I strongly suspect that Android WINE is developed using Android NDK with only a thin Java user interface layer.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.