ChromeOS has changed a lot over the years. From being little more than a browser in its early days, it has progressively added functions that brought it closer to a desktop operating system, including support for Android and even Linux applications, for example. Subsequently, support for hypervisors such as VMware Anywhere Workspacehave made it easier to work on these computers with all kinds of business applications.
Now, however, Google is preparing for the definitive change: separating Google Chrome from the rest of Chrome OS. In other words, that the Google browser becomes “just” one more application of the operating system and not, as up to now, the heart of it. As explained in “About Chromebooks”, the new version of the system, ChromeOS 116, would be the first in which users could enjoy what is known as the project lacros (Linux And Chrome OS).
Google’s documentation on the project says: “In Chrome OS, the system user interface (‘ash’ window manager, login screen, etc.) and the web browser are the same binary. Lacros separates this functionality into two binaries, henceforth known as ash-chrome (system user interface) and lacros-chrome (web browser).
On the browser side, ChromeOS would drop the custom Chrome browser for ChromeOS, replacing it with the Chrome browser for Linux. The same browser that, for example, is available for Ubuntu will now be included in ChromeOS. This among other things means that ChromeOS users will be able to get the new Chrome features at the same time as everyone else, without having to update the entire operating system.
Lacros has been in development for around two years and can be enabled via a Chrome flag, in a feature that is expected to be out of beta in the coming weeks.
