8 critical questions about the Googlebook, Android, and ChromeOS – Computerworld
8 critical questions about the Googlebook, Android, and ChromeOS – Computerworld
https://www.computerworld.com/article/4169703/googlebook-android-chromeos.html
Publish Date: 2026-05-13 06:48:00
Source Domain: www.computerworld.com
5. What about other core Chromebook qualities — like the built-in security, lack of slowdown over time, and the true desktop browser experience they offer?
I’ll make this one easy for ya: Don’t know, don’t know, don’t know.
Once more, extremely critical questions. And so far, no known answers.
6. Will Googlebooks be able to run Linux programs — and/or Windows apps, as Google worked so hard to establish with ChromeOS in recent years?
Over the years, ChromeOS morphed into something I’ve called the “everything” OS — an ironic evolution, without a doubt, given the original Chromebook vision.
Part of that means the devices can run practically every type of app imaginable, short of Mac-native software. You can install Android apps, of course, and run anything from the web. You can also install Linux apps and, with the right add-on, even run full-fledged Windows programs on a Chromebook — a move Google made proudly and after lots of thoughtful iteration to close the gap on corporate concerns around ChromeOS limitations.
Part of the Chromebook’s appeal has also always been the desktop-caliber Chrome browser experience it gives you — something that the mobile versions of browsers have never quite been able to match when it comes to speed and unrestricted productivity. It’s a very noticeable difference when you attempt to do work on the web on a Chromebook compared to a traditional Android (or any other mobile operating system) device.
As for Googlebooks, all we know right now is that they can run Android apps. So are they essentially just a new and improved version of an Android tablet — something that’d be fine and maybe even nice for more casual use but a far cry from the sort of productivity-minded environment Chromebooks have grown into providing? Or will they retain their predecessors’ progress when it comes to that singularly versatile platform-bending software support?
Until we know those answers, it’s…
