weird flex, but ok

Chrome OS Flex is an ideal off-ramp for millions of PCs that can’t run Windows 11

We kick the tires on Flex and install it on some old hardware for good measure.

Andrew Cunningham – Feb 16, 2022 7:46 PM | 214

Credit: Aurich Lawson

October 14, 2025, marks the end of support and security updates for the Home and Pro versions of Windows 10. That means it's also the end of official guaranteed feature and security updates for Windows PCs that don't meet Windows 11's hardware requirements.

Viewed from early 2022, that date is still comfortably far off. Many Windows 10 PCs will break over the next three and a half years, and plenty of people who want to upgrade to nicer or faster hardware will have opportunities to do so. But those who enjoy repairing, maintaining, and upgrading older hardware to keep it useful will be peering over the edge of that Windows 10 update cliff before they know it.

So what happens to that hardware when Windows 10 goes away? Running Windows 11 on unsupported hardware is one possible solution, but we have no idea how long Microsoft will allow users to install, run, and update Windows 11 on older PCs. The company could cut off these computers' security updates tomorrow, or it could allow them to run the new OS indefinitely. That uncertainty is hard to plan around.

Switching to a Linux distribution—particularly the more user-friendly distributions like Ubuntu, Mint, or Elementary OS—is another option. But "user-friendly" is relative, and any Linux distribution can have parts that are obtuse and difficult for newcomers to learn. And let's face it, if a Linux distribution was going to truly compete with and succeed against Windows on consumer desktops and laptops, it probably would have by now.

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Enter Chrome OS Flex, a Google-blessed and -supported version of the company's lightweight operating system that will run on most standard PC hardware. Flex is a successor to CloudReady, a Chromium OS-based product that Google purchased in late 2020 and that we've covered since its very early days as a way to make aging PCs into ersatz Chromebooks.

Chrome OS (which is also Linux-based but is mostly trying to hide it) has managed to find a toehold in the Windows-and-macOS-dominated world of consumer PCs thanks in part to its simplicity, the backing of a large and well-resourced company, and its easy-to-use management tools for schools and businesses. And with Flex, Google is offering those organizations the opportunity to switch their Windows laptop fleets to Chrome OS fleets virtually overnight while also giving users of aging PCs an alternative OS to try.

We've downloaded and installed the first developer version of Chrome OS Flex and read through all of its documentation to figure out the kind of hardware it will run on and how it's different from the CloudReady operating system it's replacing.

Beware: Beta

The same tool you use to make Chrome OS recovery media will also make Chrome OS Flex media. And this one USB drive can cover all PCs. Credit: Andrew Cunningham

You'll find Chrome OS Flex listed among all the "real" Chrome hardware in the official Chromebook Recovery Utility. Select Chrome OS Flex as your device manufacturer and the dev channel build of Flex will show up. There's no need to download different images for different devices or CPU types. The installation documentation is pretty clear and has plenty of details if you need them.

The dev channel build of Flex, based on Chrome OS version 100, is clearly a pretty early version of the operating system. It's still labeled as "CloudReady" in more than one place, and Google's list of certified models is filled with reminders that you should expect minor or major issues. As with CloudReady, it's possible to run Chrome OS Flex entirely from the USB install drive if you want to try the OS without formatting your internal storage, and that's what we'd recommend for now.

System requirements and “supported hardware”

At a very bare minimum, Chrome OS Flex doesn't need much to install and boot, especially compared to Windows 11:

A 64-bit x86 processor (ARM isn't supported, nor are 32-bit CPUs)
4GB of RAM
16GB of internal storage
USB booting support and full administrator access to the BIOS

Google notes that "components made before 2010 might result in a poor experience." And if you're trying to install the OS on an old Intel Atom PC, you might also be out of luck—Intel's GMA 500, 600, 3600, and 3650 integrated GPUs "do not meet Chrome OS Flex performance standards." Broadly, though, if a PC runs the 64-bit version of Windows 10 reasonably well, then it should at least boot and run.

Google will maintain a list of certified hardware models that it will individually test, troubleshoot, and optimize for to provide the best, most Chromebook-like experience. The list will also clarify which machines are eligible for Google-provided software and hardware support. Google's list of certified models looks pretty similar to Neverware's list for CloudReady, which means that it's heavily weighted in favor of business laptops and desktops. But it includes hardware going all the way back to first-generation Intel Core PCs (and even a handful of Core 2 Duo models), which casts a pretty wide net. Unlike Neverware, Google hasn't published end-of-support dates for any of these models. But assuming the company continues to use Neverware's timeline, most certified models can expect software support for 13 or 14 years after they were originally introduced.

Google doesn't require either Secure Boot support or a TPM to install or run Chrome OS Flex, but it recommends that you enable both on PCs that support them. Without the Google-sanctioned security hardware, Chrome OS Flex PCs don't support Chrome OS's Verified Boot feature, but enabling Secure Boot "maintain[s] the same boot security as Windows devices." And having an enabled and working TPM 1.2 or 2.0 module allows for more secure device encryption and support for hardware-backed certificates, among other things. If you're switching to Chrome OS Flex from Windows, you may need to clear your TPM and then re-enable it so that Chrome OS can use it.

For testing, I used many of the same aging PCs I used when testing Windows 11 on unsupported hardware. I had the best experience on the newest of those PCs, a 2016-era Dell Latitude 3379 two-in-one with a Core i3-6100U and 8GB of RAM. But Flex also installed and ran OK on an older Windows 7-era HP Pavilion dv5 with a Core i3-540 and 4GB of RAM, albeit with some graphical artifacts and no audio coming out of the speakers (admittedly, this laptop is nowhere on the certified hardware list, though a few other systems of the same vintage are listed).

Hardware limitations

Even assuming that you're running the OS on certified hardware, Google has a list of PC features that Flex won't support and hardware functionality it isn't guaranteeing. This includes biometric login devices like fingerprint scanners and IR cameras, SD card readers, display outputs, optical drives, FireWire and Thunderbolt ports (though Thunderbolt 3 and 4 ports should work fine in USB-C mode), and stylus and pen input. External Wi-Fi dongles "often work," but Google isn't testing them specifically.

Google also says that boot speed, power-saving features, and battery life might be affected when you install Chrome OS Flex, even on fully certified models. This is par for the course for Linux running on most PCs or Macs; it generally works fine but can reduce battery life because the software hasn't been optimized for the hardware you're running it on.

Chrome OS Flex vs. Chrome OS vs. CloudReady

Support for the Google Assistant and other Chrome OS features will distinguish Flex from CloudReady. Credit: Andrew Cunningham

So far, practically everything we've covered about Chrome OS Flex is mostly true of the home version of CloudReady, which is still available in stable form and has been for years. But moving from Chromium OS to Chrome OS does close a few of the feature gaps between a CloudReady laptop and a "real" Chromebook.

For starters, Chrome OS Flex won't run a couple of releases behind mainline Chrome OS—Chromebooks and Chrome OS Flex PCs will get all the same software updates at the same time. The muted blue color palette of the Chromium icon will obviously be switched to the official Chrome logo. And Flex features deeper integration with some Google services, including Google Assistant and Smart Lock. You also get better geolocation accuracy, the ability to use Family Link accounts, and support for Instant Tethering when used with an Android phone. Chrome OS's "Crostini" Linux environment can also be enabled "on compatible hardware." We don't know what "compatible" means yet, but presumably we'll get more information as Flex gets closer to a stable release.

People who support Chromebooks in businesses and schools will also get some benefits. You no longer need to pay for CloudReady itself, only for the admin licenses you use to administer your organization's Chromebooks. The distinction between the Home, Enterprise, and Education editions of CloudReady no longer exists—the Chrome OS Flex installer is the same regardless of which you use.

If the short distance between CloudReady and Google was a selling point of the software for you, though, you won't be able to keep using it in the long term. Once Chrome OS Flex exits beta and is ready for long-term "stable" use, all CloudReady PCs will pull down Flex as an update. The only way to block that is to disable updates, which Google doesn't recommend for obvious reasons.

Finally, there will continue to be a small functionality gap between actual Chromebooks and Chrome OS Flex devices. Flex won't support the Play Store or running Android apps, it doesn't support running Windows in a Parallels VM, and it doesn't support zero-touch enrollment or forced re-enrollment for administrators (meaning that the devices must be enrolled in your admin console manually and that laptops that are wiped by students or employees will need to be manually re-enrolled before you can manage them again).

Not a perfect Windows replacement—but an intriguing option for old hardware

HP recently delisted drivers for older PCs like this Pavilion dv5, so running any version of Windows on it will only become more difficult. Credit: Andrew Cunningham

Chrome OS Flex won't always be the best way to resuscitate an old Windows PC, even if the hardware works perfectly. The chorus of "just switch to Linux!" that arises every time Microsoft does anything even mildly controversial ignores how difficult and disruptive it can be to switch operating systems, even if most of what you do on your computer is boot it up and open a browser window. People still install and use regular-old apps on their PCs, many of which aren't available (or don't have all the same features) on Chrome OS. People get used to saving a big mess of files and icons on their desktop. People might not care to buy all the way into Google's software ecosystem the way you need to if you want to get the most out of Chrome OS.

The kinds of people who are still getting by with older PCs are also likely to be people who have vaguely adversarial relationships with their technology and with OS updates that are always tweaking things and moving things around. And for that type of user, "just" switching from Windows to Chrome OS (or anything else) can be a fraught experience.

I also don't think Chrome OS Flex is as appealing for Mac users, though it certainly is an option for reviving Intel Macs that Apple will be leaving behind in the next few years. Apple services like iCloud, FaceTime, and iMessage offer either rudimentary or nonexistent support for Chrome and Chrome OS, and if you rely on your Mac's deep integration with your iPhone or iPad, Chrome OS Flex won't be a satisfactory replacement. It's still a decent option if you're trying to totally repurpose old Mac hardware, but Apple's and Google's ecosystems are too different to make the transition easy.

All of that said, I've always liked CloudReady as a way to breathe new life into older PCs and Macs, at least for people who do most of their computing in a browser window and don't rely on specific Windows apps. So far, Chrome OS Flex looks like a slightly better and more streamlined version of the same thing. It closes a few functionality gaps between Chromium OS and Chrome OS and makes most PCs from the last eight or nine years into a decent replacement for a budget Chromebook. A few years from now, when still-functional PCs from 2015 and 2016 need a new operating system to run, installing Flex might be preferable to forcing Windows 11 to work.

Listing image: Aurich Lawson

Andrew Cunningham Senior Technology Reporter

Andrew is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica, with a focus on consumer tech including computer hardware and in-depth reviews of operating systems like Windows and macOS. Andrew lives in Philadelphia and co-hosts a weekly book podcast called Overdue.

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