back to article Run Windows on a Chromebook: All the details. Not so fast, home user...

Virtualisation software folk at Parallels have released details of a solution for running Windows on Google's ChromeOS. Parallels is well known for its Mac product, version 16 of which was released in August, which is Windows running on a virtual machine with deep integration, particularly Coherence Mode which runs Windows …

  1. karlkarl Silver badge

    "bring what Google naturally calls "legacy application support – which includes Microsoft Office desktop apps – to Chromebooks."

    Legacy is a misleading name obviously. Not only will it outlive whatever crud ChromeOS applications are but ChromeOS itself can only be built in such a "legacy" environment. Does this make ChromeOS a legacy OS?

    The term modern and legacy in computing is being misused. Modern generally means "short lived gimmick" and legacy means "boring and difficult to monetize".

    1. Snake Silver badge

      Hardware

      I don't understand based from a hardware perspective: the hardware requirements to run Parallels Windows is more than adequate to direct-boot Windows. In other words, if you're spending to get that kind of kit in each users lap why go through that hassle and extra cost of this entire idea?

      If they need the expanded capabilities of Windows just run it on bare metal and be done with it. For me (probably exclusively), part of the idea of ChromeOS is lighter weight OS and therefore cost savings, and that Parallels hardware requirement threw those ideas out the window (no pun).

      Yes, I do hear your "But security! Administration! Lockdown!", but if you're opening up to Windows just bite the bullet and realize that you've made your life a lot more complex anyway. So just go with it.

    2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      legacy means "boring and difficult to monetize".

      Legacy usually means the stuff that runs the real business and makes the money.

    3. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

      The current edition of Office surely only runs in the Microsoft Store?

      And that's half an hour's drive from here so not very convenient. :-)

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Best of both worlds!

    Being slurped by Microsoft and Google at the same time. What's not to like it?

    1. Mage Silver badge
      Coffee/keyboard

      Re: Best of both worlds!

      Hoist up your jeans, your sarcasm is showing.

      I'd offer you a beer too, but I knocked it over.

      I'd not buy a Chromebook, but if I was given one, I'd put Linux on it if possible.

    2. Scotthva5

      Re: Best of both worlds!

      Add Parallels to mix and $69 a year for the privilege. What a bargain.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    But why? Surely if you know in advance you're going to need to run Windows applications, you'd have bought something a bit more powerful than a Chromebook.

    And if your employer loans you a Chromebook because they want to make sure you're on a locked-down, auto-updated system...they're not going to co-operate with your desire to install Windows on it, are they?

    Now with the option of Windows via Parallels, Chrome OS has become a flexible four-in-one OS: native Chrome OS, Android, Linux or Windows all run, and even if one or other of these environments get borked, the core OS is likely to remain unscathed.

    Or you could just keep a backup. And/or re-image the machine. Dual-booting "just in case your OS gets trashed" seems a bit overkill.

    1. Dave K

      And if your employer loans you a Chromebook because they want to make sure you're on a locked-down, auto-updated system...they're not going to co-operate with your desire to install Windows on it, are they?

      To be fair, most business Windows laptops are locked down and auto-updated. That's what lack of admin rights, bitlocker, group policies, SCCM and WSUS are for.

      Still, it does depend. Plenty of companies I've worked with do allow limited use of virtual machines so that developers can test things with greater freedom without potentially trashing their main machines...

      1. Mage Silver badge
        Coat

        re: so that developers can test things

        And what dev has a Chromebook that actually runs ChromeOS as a main machine.

        I know plenty with beefy corporate laptops with Windows, with VMs for Windows and/or Linux.

        1. Dave K

          Re: re: so that developers can test things

          True, but there could be an office user with one who needs to access one or two Windows applications for business purposes that aren't available on ChromeOS or via the web. Not saying that businesses around the globe are going to flood to Chromebooks for this, but I can see some examples where this may be useful. The question is whether the additional cost of all this justifies the business still providing a Chromebook instead of simply a budget Windows laptop in the first place...

          1. Ian Ringrose

            Re: re: so that developers can test things

            The issue with providing a windows laptop is that the user can't then run Chromebook software, hence stopping the company standardising on Cromebrook for all new software.

            1. sabroni Silver badge

              Re: the user can't then run Chromebook software

              Standardise on browser based software then. Picking another OS to lock yourself to seems pretty short sighted when the whole point of Chromebooks is "you just need a browser to run this".

  4. fidodogbreath

    Logan's Chromebook Run

    If you're running Windows on it, does a Chromebook still artificially expire?

  5. Howard Sway Silver badge

    the pricing is $69.99 per user per annum

    That's after you've bought a Windows 10 licence. And before you've paid for the Office 365 subsription. And bought a chromebook.

    It's not really worth me bothering to point out here how little a decent second hand laptop with full office installed on it costs these days is it?

    1. Graham 32

      Re: the pricing is $69.99 per user per annum

      Business users don't by second hand.

      1. AMBxx Silver badge

        Re: the pricing is $69.99 per user per annum

        They don't pay $69.99 per year either...

  6. chivo243 Silver badge
    FAIL

    chrome borks

    We had a proof of concept, after adding all of the cost of the needed peripherals, licensing for apps, for chromeOS itself, then tooling up to be a chrome house both on the management and usage side?? Waay more expensive than being an Apple environment, when you factor in most chromeborks are out of support in just a few years, purchase more hardware, license it. My son's school has crohn'sbooks what a pile of crap, I couldn't believe my senses when I picked one up. Landfill in a year...

    With the specs listed to run windows too, you gotta be talking some big money for one unit? Plus chromeOS, plus Parallels and Windows on top of that?!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: chrome borks

      when you factor in most chromeborks are out of support in just a few years

      Whereas Apple are renowned for supporting old hardware for years on end and never changing standards thus making millions of peripherals obsolete...or making it so their OS doesn't run on hardware more than a couple of years old. Oh, wait.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Both my adult children have a Chromebook

    After a year or so they run so slowly they're nearly unusable.

    I wouldn't care but they're specifically marketed as fast, simple and always online. After a year they're slow, complicated and constantly waiting to connect.

    Much worse than my tired old Windows 7 box that is slow to boot but wakes from sleep in a second or two and is ready to go.

    1. AJ MacLeod

      Re: Both my adult children have a Chromebook

      I can't say I've seen that either on my own or on other Chromebooks... have they installed lots of Android apps or something? Mine's still as fast to resume as it was a few years ago (which is way faster than any of the many thousand Windows machines I've used!)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Both my adult children have a Chromebook

        No apps installed on either device. They use them as they're supposed to afaict, like a browser.

        Maybe my point wasn't clear, the Chromebooks are slow to use, not to resume. My windows 7 laptop is slow to resume but browses the web and streams video fine. I don't know how fast the Chromebooks wake up, but once they do they run slowly to the point of being unusable.

    2. IGotOut Silver badge

      Re: Both my adult children have a Chromebook

      Swap your Hdd for a ssd and watch your boot time to from minutes to seconds.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Both my adult children have a Chromebook

        I can't think of any Chromebooks offhand that ship with an hdd. Their usually claim the small on-board storage as a virtue, so they usually have a small ssd in.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Both my adult children have a Chromebook

        Just for clarity, the problem isn't the Chromebooks booting slowly it's them being slow in use. They already have ssds and they were fast to use when new. A year and a half later they've degraded to the point of bring almost unusable. That's not a hardware problem, it's a software problem.

  8. Christopher Reeve's Horse
    Devil

    The madness comes full circle

    The browser became an operating system, and now an operating system becomes the browser.

  9. Ian Ringrose

    Greate if only a few staff need to run window apps

    This of a large company who can run all the software that 85% of staff needs directly on Chromebook, but can't move all staff to Chromebook as a few staff still needs windows software. By enabling 100% of the staff to be moved to Chromebook, this "hack" provides a way to standardise on Chromebook before all the software have been rewritten.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The joys of high speed broadband

    The place where I work is moving just about everyone it can to Chromebooks. One big driver is most of our overseas offices are in developing world countries where high speed internet is still on the to-do list. Trying to keep a roomful of Windows machines patched to meet GDPR requirements over a 2mbps link is 'a challenge'.

    The Parallels offering might help for the few power users that need Excel rather than Google Docs, as RDP is often not an option again due to bandwidth. Life can get interesting when you have to work on the edge.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The joys of high speed broadband

      Get back to me when they've been using Chromebooks for a year and they've had a chance to slow down. Chromebooks degrade when used purely as a media/Facebook device, i can't imagine they'll perform better when actually used all day for work.

      Good experiment, though I'm glad it's your office and not mine!!

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