I recently discovered that Google had acquired a company called Neverware
way back in 2020. And that Neverware had created a product called CloudReady that’s free to use (for personal use) and allows you to convert old, slower systems into Chromebooks rather than throwing them out. As I write this, Google is offering their version of CloudReady called Chrome OS Flex as an ‘early access’ (beta) offering.
My expectation, since I’m just now downloading and preparing to run Flex on a crusty, cast-off Dell PJ8GB laptop, is that this will turn this sluggish laptop that won’t even run its original Window 8 OS anymore into a fairly sporty ‘Chromebook’. Technically, it’s not a Chromebook, ’cause that’s a thing, but it’ll be a laptop running something like Chrome OS. And all those who have been attending my classes and reading my posts know that I LOVE Chromebooks and think you should too!
So here goes.
It might help to take a few minutes and view Kevin’s “How to Install Chrome OS Flex” YouTube video first. This would have saved me significant time had I done this FIRST. Then follow Google’s installation procedure starting here. Creating the installation media will take several minutes. Be patient – it’ll be worth it, I promise!
Ok, my USB installation media has been created. I used an 8gb Kingston flash drive which worked fine. For those who have taken my Linux class at CLR, the installation process is very similar to how we would do it with Linux – created USB installation media, boot the laptop from this USB drive, run in ‘live boot’ mode (not yet installed) OR install which is the option I chose. Oh, and there’s this:
Now for the exciting part! Will the Flex installation work on this old Dell laptop? How will it perform? How will Google handle updates? How will it be different from running Chrome OS on a ‘real’ Chromebook? So many questions!
Results: I AM AMAZED! The whole install took about 5 minutes (they said it could take 20). Performance is really good. Much better than any other OS running on this aging platform, including Linux. Updates appear to be handled the same way as it is on a regular Chromebook – check for update, restart, done! Camera works, wireless networking works, bluetooth works, audio works, etc. etc. It all just works (mostly)…
OK, so the only thing I might find fault with is that Flex does not support Android apps like a modern Chromebook does. But considering what Google has accomplished with Flex, I’m not going to complain about this oversight. All the ‘cloud’ apps work properly, and this, quite honestly, is what Chromebooks have always been about.
Google, you have done a good thing for humanity. Thanks!
Update:
In addition to the Dell laptop, I thought I would try Flex on a few of my Lenovo laptops as well. Laptop 1 (T42) – can’t find the power supply – no go
Laptop 2 (T400s) – screen is gone – no go
Laptop 3 (T400) – installed and is going to be a truly amazing “Chromebook”
Here are my new Flex family pictures:
Dell PJ8GB
Lenovo T400
Update 2:
After spending a few hours with Flex on the T400, I learned a few things that might be of interest. First, old laptops don’t have great battery life – duh. Second, boot time can be long. Versus really short boot times one enjoys with real Chromebooks. Third, performance might not be stellar as one expects with a well configured Chromebook. And finally, there’s keyboard mapping. For those familiar with Chromebooks, Chromebook keyboards are somewhat minimal by design. There’s no ‘delete’ key or ‘caps lock’ key on a Chromebook keyboard, for example. But after installing Flex on a Windows laptop, all of these keys just work, and more. Flex even goes so far as to map the ‘function’ keys to various functions. This discovery on my T400 was a really nice surprise. I hadn’t expected such a complete mapping of the Windows keyboard. Of course there are many different keyboard layouts on laptops, so your mileage may vary. And even though everything worked on the T400, and it wasn’t even on the Flex ‘Certified Models‘ list.
Bottom line: Flex is really cool and all, and in some cases might give your old laptop a little more useful life. But to get the most out of the Chromebook experience, I’m still an advocate of buying the real thing. I never have to pay more than $200 for a good quality Chromebook, nor should you.
Ok, my USB installation media has been created. I used an 8gb Kingston flash drive which worked fine. For those who have taken my Linux class at CLR, the installation process is very similar to how we would do it with Linux – created USB installation media, boot the laptop from this USB drive, run in ‘live boot’ mode (not yet installed) OR install which is the option I chose. Oh, and there’s this:
