Chrome OS: Brush up on old PCs with CloudReady

By: MRT Desk

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Chrome OS: Brush up on old PCs with CloudReady

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We’ve written a lot about the benefits of Chrome OS. But as practical as it may be: like macOS, it is only available with new hardware. To use the Google operating system, you have to buy a Chromebook. But there is a way to install a very similar system on existing hardware. Chrome OS is based on the open source Chromium OS project, which is why it can be used to build alternatives that are very similar to the Google system.

The currently best known of these comes from the manufacturer Neverware and is called CloudReady. The home edition for private use is free. Educational institutions and companies, on the other hand, have to license their use for around 20 or 49 euros per device and year, but they also get extended support and integration into the Google Admin Console.

More on Chrome OS and Chromebooks:

We tried CloudReady Home on three old computers. On a Lenovo G780 notebook from 2012 with an Intel i3-2328M processor, it was noticed that the computer sporadically did not switch off when it was shut down; it then helped to hold down the power button for four seconds. A Microsoft Surface Pro of the first generation (also from 2012) runs completely without problems; however, the tablet’s position sensor is not evaluated. We also tried an Acer Iconia W500 Windows tablet. To say it works would be an exaggeration – rather it creeps; the power-saving dual-core AMD C-50 is clearly too weak to run CloudReady halfway smoothly. After all, the system recognized all hardware without any problems.

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