Google’s Chrome OS platform is lots of various things. It’s a easy place for web-centric computing. It’s a pure extension of Android and the way forward for the “Android tablet.” It’s a spot to run Linux apps — and shortly, if you happen to’re in the precise enterprise atmosphere, a spot to run Windows apps, too (!).Chrome OS has really change into the “everything OS” — a colossal shift from its preliminary place because the “nothing OS” when it first confirmed up on our doorsteps many moons in the past. But apart from interesting to individuals with all of these aforementioned qualities, the common-or-garden Chromebook is slowly however absolutely gaining a brand new objective and distinctive benefit over its opponents.It’s one thing that is been shaping up subtly for some time however that Google is now brazenly selling and pushing ahead, and it is an asset so obvious-seeming, it is virtually surprising that it hasn’t been tapped into ’til now. It’s the Chromebook’s position as the last word Google machine — a single gadget the place Google’s companies and search prowess come collectively in a singularly streamlined means. And if you happen to assume it is no huge deal, nicely, you are lacking the larger image.It was extra of a passing facet observe than any daring declaration, however Google truly laid out its imaginative and prescient for this new Chrome OS superpower in a weblog submit this week. The submit was about new options coming into the Chrome OS atmosphere as a part of September’s hefty working system replace. A better cross-device Wi-Fi password syncing system, a simplified system settings interface, and a extra accessible mic-level slider had been the headlining gadgets. But casually dropped in the midst of the submit was a quietly vital paragraph:
Soon, you’ll additionally be capable of search by way of settings from the Launcher. This is a giant step in serving to the Launcher work like an “everything button” — our imaginative and prescient is to create one place so that you can entry Google Search, your Drive, settings, apps, native information, and extra. So you’ll be able to hit one button, kind what you’re in search of, after which your Chromebook will intelligently determine what to seek out for you.
And there you have got it: the “everything button” — the logical subsequent step for what’s developed into the “everything OS.”It’s straightforward to brush that away as a modest enlargement, however having that all-in-one, “everything button” perform actually can influence your day-to-day work and talent to get stuff achieved. To some extent, that Chrome OS Launcher button has acted as a little bit of an “everything button” for some time now, however the “everything” a part of it has had a handful of lacking parts — and Google hasn’t achieved an particularly nice job of publicizing its multipurpose nature and ensuring we mortal Chromebook house owners recognize its potential.But with its new powers coming into play, that button — represented by a magnifying glass icon on most Chromebooks and (considerably confusingly, with random-seeming inconsistency) a circle on Google’s personal Pixelbook line of units — might virtually be described as a “Google button.” Tap it, and within the one field that comes up, you’ll be able to:Search the net.
Search your native pc storage.
Search your Drive file storage.
Search for paperwork, spreadsheets, and displays in your web-based Docs, Sheets, and Slides collections.
Search for a system-level setting that you simply need to modify.
Search for an app to run by yourself gadget — it doesn’t matter what kind of app it’s — or seek for a brand new app to put in from the Google Play Store.
Perform any conceivable motion through the Google Assistant.
That final half is large, particularly for anybody who additionally makes use of Assistant on Android or on a Smart Display. And Assistant on Chrome OS can do some impressively useful stuff — every little thing from creating new paperwork to controlling your calendar and interacting along with your cross-device reminders.There’s only one catch: On most present Chromebooks, the Assistant stays frustratingly indifferent from the primary Launcher expertise. It’s related but additionally separate from the remainder of the Launcher setup: If you need to work together with Assistant, it’s important to both click on or faucet an Assistant icon throughout the preliminary Launcher search field or press the Launcher key and “A” key collectively to drag it up.On Google’s personal Pixelbook line of units, although, Assistant is built-in into the Launcher seamlessly — and my goodness, what a distinction that makes. You simply begin typing into the only Launcher search field, and no matter’s most acceptable comes up mechanically as the highest suggestion — whether or not that is an app:JR …a web site:JR …a system setting:JR …or an Assistant-handled motion:JR It’s a seemingly refined distinction however a big one with regards to real-world influence. Having Assistant proper there, built-in in with every little thing else, makes it really feel like a pure extension of the working system. And it makes the concept of this “everything button” — the “Google button” — really feel highly effective and full. Quite actually, it is one thing you resent not having while you work on Chrome OS after which return to a extra conventional working system atmosphere.(And here is slightly secret: You can truly get that native Assistant Launcher integration on any present Chromebook, even when it does not have the Pixel branding. I’ll share the precise steps in my e-newsletter on Friday.)Factor in Google’s ongoing plan to show the Play Store right into a unified, all-in-one Chromebook app market, and you may see how the long-scattered items of the Chrome OS ecosystem are lastly beginning to coalesce into one thing smart.Chrome OS is on the point of changing into the place the place Google’s greatest capabilities come collectively to kind a complete new sort of related expertise. It’s an thrilling new begin for clever desktop computing — and past that, it exhibits us the kind of totally related Google expertise Android might, ought to, and hopefully in the future will even present.Want much more Googley information? Sign up for my weekly e-newsletter to get next-level ideas and perception delivered on to your inbox.[Android Intelligence videos at Computerworld]
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