Apparently, Google has decided that it will be merging ChromeOS into Android. In an interview with TechRadar, President of Android Ecosystem at Google Sameer Samat confirmed that the company will be combining ChromeOS and Android into a single platform.
Samat did not elaborate on his statement, nor did he provide a concrete timeline for such a merger. So it’s likely that the change won’t be coming anytime soon. Samat expressed his interest in how people currently use their laptops to perform tasks, which could mean that Google is still exploring the types of features the combined platform could offer.
It is worth noting that the idea of folding ChromeOS into Android is hardly new. In fact, there had been whispers of such a merger about a decade ago, but Google asserted that it had no plans to phase out its operating system. Of course, that statement was made quite a while back, and it looks like the company has since changed its mind.
In recent years, Google has developing more features for Android that offer a more desktop-like experience. In fact, a new addition coming to the latest version of the operating system is a desktop windowing function. So, combining ChromeOS and Android only seems like a natural next step here.
That said, it is unclear how this change will affect current ChromeOS users, especially in terms of software support and how their hardware will adjust to the shift. Additionally, depending on how the eventual rollout is conducted, organisations that rely on ChromeOS such as schools could face problems in adapting to the new system. Still, given that it sounds like it will be a while before the change will happen, we’ll just have to wait and see how it pans out.
(Source: TechRadar via 9to5Google)
