you're probably used to installing Windows when building or refurbishing a
PC or maybe a Linux distribution like Kali or Arch if you're more of a power
user but did you know there's another option that's especially useful if you
have an older lower spec computer kicking around it's called Chrome OS
flex and yes it's quite similar to the Chrome OS that comes with Chromebooks
that you buy off the shelf if things come to that but why exactly would you
want to put it on a PC you already own in the first place well the reason we
mentioned older lower spec computers a few seconds ago is because these
machines can have trouble running modern versions of Windows like 10 or 11. the
recommended requirements for Chrome OS Flex on the other hand are very basic
you just need any x64 CPU from 2010 or
later 4 gigs of RAM 16 gigs of storage and the ability to boot from USB for
installation that's it and although Google maintains a rather comprehensive
list of certified systems that it's tested with Chrome OS Flex any non
certified PC should run it just fine as long as it meets the minimum
requirements why is that well you can get away with having such low end specs
because like the regular Chrome OS Flex is a mostly cloud-based operating system
that runs lightweight web-based apps like Google Docs meaning much of the
processing is being done on a Google server rather than on your own PC and
because the interface is very similar to Android most folks will be far more
comfortable with it than other free operating systems like Ubuntu or Linux
Mint not to mention it can be a great choice for Less tech savvy users who
just need a machine to browse the internet and watch videos since you
can't install random applications that might contain malware speaking of
security Chrome OS Flex is actually the successor to another operating system
called cloud ready but unlike cloud ready Chrome OS Flex gets updates at the
same time as regular Chromebooks so you shouldn't remain vulnerable to newly
emerging threats however there are some important differences from pre-built
Chromebooks and other caveats you should be aware of which we'll tell you about
right after we thank brilliant for sponsoring this video brilliant is a
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just you need it's for normal things simply honing your ability to learn and
think will translate into everyday aspects of Life their services can be
used to supplement a college education or you can use it to just broaden your
knowledge just because that's an axiomatic good the first 200 people to
head to brilliant.org techwiki will get 20 off an annual premium subscription if
you're trying to install Chrome OS Flex on anything that has an ARM CPU such as
the Surface Pro X or an M1 or M2 MacBook
for some reason you're out of luck since
it requires a white bread x64 CPU from AMD or Intel another thing to remember
is that unlike the vanilla Chrome OS there's no native Android app support so
don't expect it to to be exactly like a variant of your smartphone with a
physical keyboard even though that's exactly what I want in a smartphone
there are also other little snags you might run into it has no support for
Biometrics Optical drives or Thunderbolt ports and Linux apps which a good number
of folks like to run on their Chromebooks may not work on Chrome OS
Flex if you're using Hardware that's particularly underpowered but if you're
cool with these limitations it's good to note that not only is it easy to run on
a single PC but you can also quickly deploy it to a large number of computers
over a network if you're doing something like running a business according to
google a hotel chain in Europe was able to install it on 2000 computers in two
days making it a heck of a lot cheaper than you know buying 2 000 new PCS or
buying 2 000 new Windows licenses I don't know about you but I'm really
not keen on paying 130 bucks just to talk to Cortana during work hours even
if she is just here to help I'm judging bring back clippy and bring yourself
back here for another video when this one's over which it is now thanks for
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