Give your PC new life with ChromeOS Flex

Want to bring an old computer back to life, or set up a simple, secure productivity environment? Darien Graham-Smith tries out Google’s free ChromeOS Flex platform

Most of us have old computers knocking about that still work perfectly well, but which struggle with the latest versions of Windows and desktop applications. Google’s lightweight ChromeOS could give such systems a new lease of life: it’s designed to run snappily on low-power hardware, and it can’t be beaten for simplicity and security – which means it’s also an ideal choice if you’re setting up a computer for your kids, or donating one to your parents. And let’s be clear, this is no hack. When ChromeOS was first released it was exclusively available on Chromebook and Chromebox systems (remember them?), but 2022 saw the introduction of the ChromeOS Flex edition, which you can download for free and run on any Intel-based PC or Mac with Google’s blessing. The installation is…

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PC Pro (Digital) - 1 Issue, September 2024

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