# Google to merge Chrome OS into Android



## editor (Oct 30, 2015)

As someone that has been using Android on a laptop for years and found it a very, very pleasing experience, this is great news and a very sensible move.



> Google has been working on bringing Android to x64 and x86 devices (PCs and laptops have different processor architectures than Android devices) and is rumored to launch an integrated OS – one that will run on mobile devices as well as laptops – in 2017. This is very close to what Microsoft is doing with Windows 10, and it gives more people more access to Android and its app ecosystem. Imagine a laptop on Android, which has access to its huge market of apps.
> 
> Android is already on more than 1 billion mobile devices as of today, while Chrome OS can only claim around 3% of the laptop market, the latter is still a niche product. Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai, who led the development of the Chrome operating system in 2009, told analysts on a call last week that “mobile as a computing paradigm is eventually going to blend with what we think of as desktop today.”
> 
> Chrome OS will continue to exist, most likely as an experimental system or an open source OS that can be used in developing countries for low cost laptops and PCs. The fact of the matter is that developers really did not jump on creating apps for Chrome OS, since it has a very low user base. That will not be the case when Android is brought to laptops and PCs, with almost all people familiar with Android in one way or another.



Google to merge Chrome OS into Android


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## editor (Oct 30, 2015)

And now the DENIALS!

Google denies that it will fold Chrome OS into Android


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## elbows (Nov 3, 2015)

No wonder they are denying it. The last thing they want is for people to get the idea that Chrome OS is being phased out, even if it is. There will be loads of new Chrome OS devices they want to sell next year, along with stocks of existing models. Given how the wording of many articles made it sound like Chrome OS is doomed, or is at least the junior failure that gets merged into the successful android, I bet they are not happy at all.

I guess the problem really is that even if you like Chrome OS and think its done well, this stupid capitalist corporate word we live in demands very healthy market share in order for things to be deemed successful and worth pursuing. And this rubs off on developers for obvious reasons, and is especially applicable to operating systems/platforms. There is also a bit of a thing about developing using web tech vs other native methods. Web apps so far tend to only cut the mustard in certain categories of function, and even where they are capable in theory, developers often have reasons for not wanting to do it that way/with those languages. 

I can't tell if Chrome OS is worth keeping around, and is simply ahead of its time, of if its never going to gain the traction needed for the sort of corporation google is to stick with it. We know that google is not a company afraid to abandon stuff, even if the service or product in question has loud fandom from niche groups. 

The timing of hardware and software development didn't end up allowing for it, but I really wish that Chrome OS devices had existed about a decade before they did. They'd have had a much better chance of causing a huge storm if they'd come along as competition for shit netbooks, and before the concept of tablets caught on.


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## editor (Nov 3, 2015)

elbows said:


> I can't tell if Chrome OS is worth keeping around, and is simply ahead of its time, of if its never going to gain the traction needed for the sort of corporation google is to stick with it.


You think so? Sales have been very brisk indeed.


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## elbows (Nov 3, 2015)

If they have decided to merge it off into relative oblivion then I think its also another indicator that their hopes for 'consumer adoption of all things cloud' were severely over-egged. There was an obvious risk at the time and I probably said so. There is no doubt that people are becoming very comfortable using cloud services and storage for certain things. But not others, at least not as quickly as google needed in order to justify these sorts of systems to themselves. Again, wacky corporate/capitalist demands on how this stuff must evolve to be considered worthwhile.


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## Throbbing Angel (Nov 3, 2015)

How heavily has the education sector bought into Chrome OS.  I was under the impression that Chromebooks were big in US and UK schools (although there are none in either of my kids schools)


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 3, 2015)

It always seemed silly having 2 operating systems anyways.


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## elbows (Nov 3, 2015)

editor said:


> You think so? Sales have been very brisk indeed.



The problem is the market share is still pathetic in the eyes of the judges of this economic system. It's not my fault, I don't consider Chrome OS to be a failure, just a slow burner. But thats not enough for these people, we are after all talking about the same company that pulled the plug on a consumer release of Glass for now, and were very vague and slippery with their language about whether the project was dead.

I didn't think I was making any claim that would surprise you or come across as my biased opinion, simply because you were happily posting about these merger stories, but the stories themselves are the ones going on about crap chrome OS market share and talking about Chrome OS as if its the inferior party that gets merged into android, not the other way around. The articles might be wrong on some or all detail, but I thought you were going along with the news. If you shoot the messenger, you are shooting yourself on this one, not me!


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## elbows (Nov 3, 2015)

Throbbing Angel said:


> How heavily has the education sector bought into Chrome OS.  I was under the impression that Chromebooks were big in US and UK schools (although there are none in either of my kids schools)



Here are some numbers that include what percentage of their sales are for educational use, as well as sales by region:

Gartner Says Worldwide Chromebook Sales Will Reach 7.3 Million Units in 2015


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## mauvais (Nov 3, 2015)

elbows said:


> The problem is the market share is still pathetic in the eyes of the judges of this economic system. It's not my fault, I don't consider Chrome OS to be a failure, just a slow burner. But thats not enough for these people, we are after all talking about the same company that pulled the plug on a consumer release of Glass for now, and were very vague and slippery with their language about whether the project was dead.


It is a failure. In the long term mobile and desktop will converge and what Microsoft are doing - maybe prematurely - is probably the right approach. So this two pronged approach had a finite life with especially high maintenance costs and needed to establish serious presence in that period. 7m annual sales is shite - almost certainly multiple dollars in cost per user. I'm not even sure the Chromebook is anything other than a short term idea. 'Peak netbook' has been and gone.


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## JamesRaymond87 (Jun 12, 2016)

Google did this for heightening sales of Chromebook.


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## Tankus (Sep 7, 2016)

just discovered 64 bit chrome ....oooh....tis quick


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## Orang Utan (Nov 25, 2016)

I use Chrome on my Android device and I read news stories/social media on it. If I wanted to share a link, I'd just cut and paste it from the browser, but all of a sudden, some pages don't show the actual url but a Google one instead. Does anyone know how to fix this? I only want to cut and paste the URL of the actual page I'm on.


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## Throbbing Angel (Nov 26, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> I use Chrome on my Android device and I read news stories/social media on it. If I wanted to share a link, I'd just cut and paste it from the browser, but all of a sudden, some pages don't show the actual url but a Google one instead. Does anyone know how to fix this? I only want to cut and paste the URL of the actual page I'm on.


Can you give us a screenshot of this please. I've never seen this and only use Chrome.


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## mauvais (Nov 26, 2016)

You get something similar with Google Image Search where it no longer takes you to the image but instead a Google rendering of it. You can only access the original content & URL by fiddling about.

I'm not sure quite what OU is on about though.


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## Orang Utan (Nov 26, 2016)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Can you give us a screenshot of this please. I've never seen this and only use Chrome.


I think it's called AMP. Not sure how I can do a screenshot of a URL.


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## Throbbing Angel (Nov 26, 2016)

mauvais said:


> I'm not sure quite what OU is on about though.


 ditto

OU:  Just take a screenshot whilst the address bar is in view.

What's AMP?


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## mauvais (Nov 26, 2016)

Oh yeah, AMP.

Supposedly they're going to fix that.

Here's a link, ironically in AMP: Google: Easier Way to Link & Share Actual URL on AMP Pages Coming


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## Orang Utan (Nov 26, 2016)

Throbbing Angel said:


> ditto
> 
> OU:  Just take a screenshot whilst the address bar is in view.
> 
> What's AMP?


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## Orang Utan (Nov 26, 2016)

mauvais said:


> Oh yeah, AMP.
> 
> Supposedly they're going to fix that.
> 
> Here's a link, ironically in AMP: Google: Easier Way to Link & Share Actual URL on AMP Pages Coming


I never asked for AMP whatever that is! I want it back to how it was!


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## Throbbing Angel (Nov 26, 2016)

Ah right. Never seen it on my phone, also Android. 

PITA


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## elbows (Jan 4, 2017)

Funny that the quote at the start of this thread mentions 2017 - seems like the next generation of machines that blend something of Chrome and Android and try to take on the likes of the microsoft surface may be upon us at CES.

So far I just see an article based on a Samsung leak but the real announcement of this product may only be hours away.

'*Samsung's leaked Chromebook Plus is built for Android apps*
*Touchscreen ChromeOS devices could soon arrive in force.'*

Samsung's leaked Chromebook Plus is built for Android apps

Depending on price & spec I might be tempted - Android and Chrome OS on their own dont quite do it for me but the right blend could be good. And someone at work got a Surface Pro which convinced me that no, despite the range of apps and some nice features I really dont want a Microsoft OS for this form-factor of device - too many typical microsoft crap design or implementation niggles that never get fixed and become especially tedious with tablet type devices.


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## Orang Utan (Jan 4, 2017)

Everytime I do a Google search now it makes me choose which account to do it from and then I have to press it again to search.
FWP I know - having two more clicks to do to search Google, but it's annoying. 
Anyone know any way around this?


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## Throbbing Angel (Jan 4, 2017)

Looks great - I might be tempted too depending on the price/spec.

My iPad's had it so a convertible would be great, and I can't believe that I'll have had my Chromebook 2 years soon, so I fancy an upgrade.


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## Throbbing Angel (Jan 4, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> Everytime I do a Google search now it makes me choose which account to do it from and then I have to press it again to search.
> FWP I know - having two more clicks to do to search Google, but it's annoying.
> Anyone know any way around this?



on your PC?  from Chrome?


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## mwgdrwg (Jan 4, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> Everytime I do a Google search now it makes me choose which account to do it from and then I have to press it again to search.
> FWP I know - having two more clicks to do to search Google, but it's annoying.
> Anyone know any way around this?



DuckDuckGo


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## mauvais (Jan 4, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> Everytime I do a Google search now it makes me choose which account to do it from and then I have to press it again to search.
> FWP I know - having two more clicks to do to search Google, but it's annoying.
> Anyone know any way around this?


Don't have two accounts associated with the phone, or if you must, have them on separate phone user accounts, assuming that's supported by your device.


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## Orang Utan (Jan 4, 2017)

Throbbing Angel said:


> on your PC?  from Chrome?


no, sorry, phone. ignore me, it's working now. for some reason I wasn't signed in automatically to Google when I launched Chrome. I am now, after misplacing my phone and the subsequent drama.


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