Googlebook OS

Uh, by the way, yes, I have the Lenovo.

Let's kick it off with what we think about the hardware we're using, and then we can get into the real kind of nitty-gritty of Google Book OS, 'cause Abner's done a really good deep dive into it, and I have some thoughts as well, 'cause, uh, there i- hey, there's good, bad, there's ugly, there's everything else in between.

What do you think in terms of, like, the hardware spread that we have so far? Because I do think if there's one thing I haven't, I cannot be too critical of with any of the Google Books is, there is some good damn...

There's damn good hardware here.

I'm more...

I wanna get into the, the real nitty-gritty.

Everyone wants to know what Google Book OS is like.

Everyone wants to know what this version of Android is like.

[laughs] I, generally speaking, don't have a lot of problems with it.

Um, there may be an issue with USB, but I can't determine, having only one, you know, sample size of one, I can't determine if it's a hardware issue or if it's a Google Book OS issue.

But any rate.

So one of the things that happened is I'm, I'm recording this with a microphone in front of me, but as I tap it, there's no tapping sound because it cut out just before [laughs] we started recording, and I went silent to the good Dr. Westfall and to Don.

Last night alone, one of the reasons I am using this to record this podcast with some trepidation is last night Chrome, Chrome the browser from Google crashed twice on me, as in the app is not responding.

Would you like to wait or close? [laughs] You know, that kind of thing.

Um, now I'm, I'm not sure if the folks that do Google Chrome web browsers talk to the folks that do Google Chromebook, I mean Google Book OS, but- Folks, you guys need to talk.

Mm-hmm.

Now, apparently, Google Books, from Google, the replacements to Chromebooks, will be as bad as the Chromebooks were.

These look like a regression, mostly, in terms of how well they support Linux-related stuff, because while you could install graphical Linux apps on Chrome OS and integrate them in your main menu and run them with one click, Google Book OS will not be able to do that.

You will be able to install graphical programs using the command line, but you will also have to run them from the command line.

Google said that GUI apps are not the main focus for now, although that seems to indicate maybe they will work on that in the future.

The bet is not desktop Android apps because no one is going to make those.

They didn't make them for Chrome OS.

They're not going to make them for Google Book OS who has zero market share.

Chrome OS had like 3%.

Uh, it, it is- Google Books are Google's latest attempt to kind of craft a premium laptop experience that can compete with high-end Windows and, uh, Mac devices.

Um, and so Google Book- Google Books run Google Book OS, uh, which is a very interesting operating system.

It is a weird mishmash of Android and, uh, Chrome OS, which is Google's kinda existing desktop platform.

Um, so at, at, at the core, Google Book OS is Android, and then they just kinda ripped out a bunch of the Chrome OS features like the, the desktop windowing and, and the UI and stuff like that, and jammed it into Android.

So you're basically running Android, uh, but it looks like Chrome OS, um, and it works similarly to Chrome OS.

Um, but w- Android, uh, is based on Linux, so you also kinda have some Linux functionality in there, but it's kind of limited and, like, very weird to, to use and operate.

Um, and then the hardware portion is kind of operating similar to how Windows works, where, uh, with Windows, Microsoft makes the Windows operating system and then we have a bunch of, uh, third-party manufacturers like Asus, Dell, HP, et cetera, that are making the hardware that Windows runs on.

And so that's what's happening with the Google Books as well.

The Google Book opened for pre-order on September 21, 2026 and started shipping on October 4.

Its operating system, Google Book OS, developed under the internal codename Aluminium, is not Chrome OS with a new coat of paint.

It is a desktop-optimized distribution of Android that has swallowed the consumer Chrome OS branch whole.

Chrome OS Flex and the Enterprise versions live on, but the consumer future belongs to Android.

Mobile operating systems were built for scarcity, strict sandboxing, aggressive battery management, and freezing anything the user is not looking at.

Scarcity-first design has now conquered the desktop.

Start with the kernels, Android and Google Book OS share Linux, iOS and Macaw share Apple's hybrid XNU kernel.

The kernel inside your phone is the kernel inside your laptop.

They're on sale.

These laptops are the heir apparent to the Chromebook, but Chrome OS is out, and Android-based Google Book OS is in.

The five different Google Books on sale now are made by five different companies, and none of them are Google.

Starting prices run from eight ninety-nine to twelve ninety-nine.

For multiplats, you don't care, but for specific exclusives, I think it's pretty good.

Now, we talked about the Google Book OS thingy last week, but we know now that Chromebooks will indeed be phased out after all, after Google said they would be maintained alongside Google Books.

No, they won't.

They will no longer coexist, but that comes into effect in 2034, which... is okay Chromebooks and Chrome OS will keep getting updates until 2034 which is a long time to support those devices and some Chromebooks will even get the offer to jump to Google Book OS instead which apparently is really just Android the Linux based is just because they use the Android Linux kernel which I wouldn't really call a Linux based operating system but that's up for debate Now that long phase-out time seems also linked to the fact that these new devices, the Google Books, they don't support all the enterprise and education related tools that Chrome OS does, so they're waiting for that to be ready before they ditch the older platform.

I'm not surprised they'll be removing that, it is a less capable OS than what they're building apparently, it is also pretty bad in general as an operating system, it does a lot of things well, but it also does a lot of things really badly.

I don't think it's a good system, so replacing it makes sense.

That's about eight years from now, if you're counting.

So what about this promise of 10 years worth of Chrome OS updates for the certain models? Google is only saying that it's committed to supporting the transition to Google Book OS and adding that there are many devices offering direct migration paths.

Okay, thanks a lot, jerks.

I'm sorry, that's a kind of, it sounds very, it's just a little jerky answer to me, okay? Okay.

The idea is we're thinking that that might mean because all we can go by is, you know, Inflection and perception, whatever you see.

And hope.

Yeah, and hope is that Google will maybe intend to provide current and modern Chromebooks that run Chrome OS with an actual software update to a future edition of Google Book OS.

But of course, now IT workers are also like...