News
News Categories

Android and Chrome OS may become a single OS as soon as next year

By Koh Wanzi - on 30 Oct 2015, 11:58am

Android and Chrome OS may become a single OS as soon as next year

Since taking over both Chrome OS and Android two years ago, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has brought the two closer together. (Image Source: Google Developers)

Google’s Chrome and Android operating systems may soon be combined into one, with a debut expected as early as next year.

According to The Wall Street Journal, this is not a sudden move on the part of Alphabet, Google’s new holding company, and Google engineers have been working for around two years to bring the two operating systems together.

Sources familiar with the matter have reportedly said that the company plans to show off an early version of the combined OS next year, but the official, consumer-ready version is slated for a 2017 release.

Chrome OS was originally part of Google’s effort to bring a browser- and cloud-centric approach to more devices, and which wouldn’t require the best hardware to run.

Chromebooks have always been a rather good, low-cost option if you needed a functional notebook. However, as the bulk of personal computing is increasingly being done on mobile devices – and as Windows 10 introduced us to its universal app platform – it makes sense for Google to do away with the distinction between its ostensible desktop and mobile OSes.

In the past two years, the two OSes have actually moved closer and support for select Android apps has even been added to Chromebooks. Last month, Google also announced the Pixel C, a convertible Android tablet that, in retrospect, was a signal of the things to come.

Google Pixel C. (Image Source: Google)

The merging of the two OSes means configuring Android to run on both desktops and laptops, which seemingly requires both big UI and under-the-hood changes. However, some familiar things will remain, like support for the Google Play Store.

Other than the advantages of having a more streamlined and unified OS, Google would also benefit from expanding the reach of Android to even more devices. By adding PCs to the list, Google would significantly expand Android’s presence in the computing space and possibly attract even more app developers.

Chromebooks will be renamed to reflect the change, but Google will retain the Chrome name for its Web browser. If everything goes as planned, next year’s Google I/O event could be the first time we get a peek at the new unified OS.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Join HWZ's Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.