I enjoy watching these videos showing extremely light OSs working on old hardware. It's very inspiring

It’s cool to see how far Chrome OS on unsupported devices has come in the last decade. From the Hexxeh releases compiled by a high school kid in England to releases formally made by Google for developers.

Chris's idea to use diskpart is a great idea, certainly for more than just this! You can also uninstall the software from the USB using the same tool. Select the gear in the top right corner of the window when prompted to identify your Chromebook and you will see the selection, erase recovery media. In my experience, plugging the drive into Windows generates several open windows and formatting notices, since my default is to open the window on USB folders.

Chris, thanks for your video. I've been using Chrome OS Flex on an old (2011) Apple Mac Mini that's no longer supported, and it works very well. I love the idea of running a simple OS on older hardware. I've been using this for months, and I'm very happy with it. Thank you again for your video.

I installed Chrome OS flex on my 11 year old Fujitsu AH531, which is not on the list of tested devices but I had nothing to lose and gave it a try. I was impressed with the performance, much better than the Lubuntu distribution I had before

Thanks Chris, great video. It is great to know of such an option. Especially useful for friends wanting a simple low cost option for friends and ideally their kids.

Hey sir, been keeping up to date with all these Linux distros and love that you're doing such a great job.

never thought I'd fall in love with 2010s kind-of-video; please don't change

Just tried this out on an old Dell Studio laptop (nice 17" screen and better than normal sound) that originally came with Windows Vista. I replaced the original HDD with a 250GB SATA SSD and loaded Chrome OS Flex - and it all runs very nicely. Even the built in media player touch panel works (Volume controls and Play, Pause Stop buttons) - and it can cope with 1080 video on KZfaq. Very impressed so far. However the one issue that seems to be quite common is that printer support is unpredictable - especially when you want to use an older printer. While both WiFi and USB printing is potentially supported the range of printer models that work is limited - and you can't install any drivers to get around unsupported printer issues. With a WiFi enabled printer that refuses to work you may have a manual setup option if the printer supports IPP (Internet Printer Protocol). However if you only have USB cable connection it appears you are limited to the printers in the supported printers database - and even those can be removed by Google at any time due to age. Many reports of printers working for months and then you get the dreaded ".... printer is no longer available" - basically Google saying "your printer is too old buy a new one". The system can still see the printer and display it's description - but you can no longer Save it to the active printer list. It seems printer support for older printers is best for HP printers, and much less so for older Epson and Canon models. For other manufacturers it is really only very recent models that are likely to be supported. Even current printers often make no mention of Chrome OS support in published specs - you have to go to Chromebook support pages to see if a particular printer is listed as supported.

I love how Chris has transformed his sign off schpiel into something that is now starting to sound like a song.

Excellent video, i followed your instructions yesterday to give new life to an old laptop which had already had so many distros on it over the years that it had become a little unstable, now works perfectly, and it's quick too, so thank you very much.

My go-to channel for anything computer related i´m wondering about 👌

Great video as always, I love these type of videos! I would like it if you could create a tutorial/series on how to set up a basic AWS server with Active Directory and File Sharing as I am really interested in that and would like to know more about it. All the other guides that I have been looking into are really long and complicated and I would love a series or video from you demonstrating how to set it up. Thanks again for this video.

I've been very impressed with ChromeOS Flex after playing with it on a 10-year-old laptop. I like that it can run many Linux programs, and can also run web-based Microsoft Office, so most of the applications I use regularly can be duplicated on ChromeOS Flex. The exception, of course, is the Adobe applications, however there are some open-source alternatives, which are functional, but less elegant. It's unfortunate that you can't run Android applications, but hopefully that will be added to a future release.

Wish I had a computing teacher like you when I was at school!

Thank you for a very thorough but easy to follow tutorial!

You can also use the Chrome OS recovery utility to erase Chrome OS recovery media from the USB drive, so it can be reformatted by normal means. Just click on the cog icon in the top RH corner of the utility's window.

Thanks! Another Great Video! Thanks for all of the knowledge that YOU share with the World!

Thanks Christopher. Making things simpler for sure. Go well

I appreciate your efforts to explain in this video 👍

I remember the two occasions in which I used ChromeOS and enjoyed it quite a bit. ChromeOS Flex definitely shows a lot of promise and I can see it becoming just as good an alternative to Windows as the other one!

It looks interesting Chris. Have you done any data collection tests? Is there a way to manage it like in Windows?

Another excellent video two thumbs up. Than you for all you do

Something else to put on my “Must try because Chris showed it to me” list. Thanks!

Very nice, made me digging up an old Laptop and trying it out. I'm impressed, works like a charm. Thank you for your video.👍 Specs on the System: Compaq 610 year 2009, Core Duo T5870@2GHz and 4 GB RAM.

That was almost too much to take!! I'm glad you held back on the calculator or I'd be in a tizzy right now.

Really tempting to try..But I suppose I could wait for the full version instead of beta. Thank you for the info. Best regards from Malaysia ✌️🙏🇲🇾

I was using cloud ready on the old PC for some time, also it brought new life to old laptop HP stream (god knows why shipped with win10 that was unusable on these specs). Very glad to see Chrome OS Flex is finally out ! Can't wait to try it !

Greetings to everyone. As always such a fantastic content from Mr. C.B.. I'm using Chrome OS Flex including the use of the Linux Containers, with Java Enterprise Edition on Eclipse 2022-03, Git, Python 3.x with no issues at all, for over a month now on a 4th generation Intel with way more than 4GB of RAM and the system feels like a powerhouse in my perspective, on a 9 years old HP Laptop with its original HDD (no SSD). Seems like it is truly a viable option for everyone to buy brand new "old generation hardware", lets say like Intel 6th Gen and up, to use as everyday computer, and not just for learning, but for doing real work like teaching, software development & research. #NoMoreeWaste

Thanks for another informative video. ChromeOS Flex looks like a great option for some aging laptops/notebooks, but not too old if they have to be 64 bit and have 4 GB of RAM. Old computers never die they just get updated operating systems ...

Thanks Chris, easy to understand. Will now follow you.

I picked up an old HP T630 thin client device and have installed Flex on it. Works like a charm. If you're wedded to the Microsoft world, the Office extension for Chrome also works really well to let you access all your OneDrive based files via the Office Online apps. Kind of the best of both worlds on a really cheap device 😊

Another good video Chris, the attraction for myself and presumably many others for the Chrome OS Flex, is you do not need a heavily weighted Windows operating system just to go to the browser. Constant windows updates, annoying news and weather pop ups, plus an operating system that gobbles up resources and is slow to start.

Greetings Chris. Flex edition of Chrome OS appears to be a nice option to bring aging systems back to life.

Thanks as always Chris.

Another interesting OS. I appreciate the information. Looking forward to your next video!

Since it reminds me of the GNOME desktop, I rather stick to GNU/Linux with Gnome desktop 🙏🤗

I like the idea of Chrome OS (never tried Flex) for most end users that only need an internet machine with light office use. But for me, a lightweight non-cloud OS is far more attractive. I have an Asus Chromebit (Chrome OS HDMI stick) that I used to use as a "smart TV," but it's currently collecting dust.

Great content, as always! Thank you!

Thank you for the video! Tested it with my old macbook from 2006 and still works (though dead slow, because without a battery it clocks down to 1.1GhZ). My 2013 MacbookPro worked also very well, this might be an option for the future.

I'm troubled by the way that PC World (UK) are flogging Chromebook's to people even though they would be better served with a traditional PC. WE know that ChromeOS is a cloud OS but not everyone does. In fact, for CloudOS I'd rather use FriendOS and give Google and their spyware a very wide berth.

Thanks for another informative video! Here in The USA there are very few (if any) channels like Yours! I tell my family that YOU really break down and explain each video for newbies and experienced users! I look forward to each of your videos. I'm looking forward to trying Chrome OS Flex on some of my older hardware. Most of it is from recent history 64-bit/4gb of ram and it should work fine. Thanks again! Have a Great Week!

Look that's you talking to you! Thank you so much for this tip! 💪🏻👍🏻

Nice video, very clean and really enjoyable, greetings from Mexico

why do you look like bill gates brother?

My expectation of a "PC OS" would be one that can operate both OS and installed Apps "offline". Considering this is "installed", it would seem that very little is resident on the PC, and very much reliant on a cloud server to process the PC interaction. A lack of network connectivity would equate to a PC lobotomy. … I am very much a fan of locally resident executables, and local data, on my PCs 😀

It looks surprisingly clean. I might install it on an old laptop and see how it works out.

Great video thanks for all the info.

Can we all agree his video never fails to entrain us

I tried playing with this a couple of weeks ago. During this 09:37 part of the install is where it all went horridly wrong. It doesn't give you the option of where to install the OS. A major problem as I found out! It did not chose the lovely clean SSD at SATA0, it chose to chew its way through an HDD that had Linux data on it. Thank heavens for disk images, but unplug any other drives if you install this!

Great! Can't wait to try ChromeOS Flex on my old laptop! As for Chromebook Recovery Utility plugin: no need to use diskedit to clean partitions afterwards: in fact I used this Chrome plugin before on many occasions specifically to clean partitions from stubborn USB drives ("cog" icon [top right] ->Erase recovery media), even when all Windows tools (diskmgmt.msc & diskedit) fail. It also runs from MS Edge, which is Chrome-based nowadays.

Thank you I would try this 😊❤️❤️

Brilliant, I've been waiting for this for a few years now but this completely passed me by! I hope someone makes it available as a simple ISO so I can just use Etcher. 4 GB of RAM is a bit more than I was hoping for in minimum specs, but it sounds like a challenge to me -- I've got to try it on a 2 GB machine now. Never respect the so-called "minimum-requirements"!

By the Way, you mentioned how you can reformat the bootable USB with diskpart, but I found that using a SD Card Formator made by the SD Association works great and poses no hassle with the command prompt on windows!

Maybe i can use on my old x86 sbc. Thanks for showing the chrome os flex.

I've been playing around with this from a USB stick on an old ThinkPad since it was released. It was only a matter of time before you got around to reviewing it.

Hello Chris. May I give you a sugestion ? A much simpler way to wipe clean USB sticks used in such way is using the Raspberry Pi Image utility. Even as an advenced user, I highly recommend it due to its simplicity and easy of use. You can reformat USB sticks in FAT32 and ExFAT very easily and it has the benefit of "guiding" less experienced users avoiding accidents. Thank you for the video.

ChromeOS Flex looks very interesting, thanks Chris 🙂 Google have apparently discontinued Chrome apps, so how are Chrome Canvas and the like 'installed' in ChromeOS? Does Flex support Linux apps? I don't see the Play Store so I suspect Android apps are out.

Christopher, I'm happy to see you're not all that far from reaching a million subscribers... good work! Crap, I can remember your very first videos about choosing the best operating systems for cats.

KZfaq keeps unsubbing me from this channel, so annoying. Glad to see you are still making videos!

I have just dusted off my old Raspberry Pi B to use with a 7" touchscreen to connect with Octoprint, I have tried Octodash and Octoscreen but have not been impressed by either of them so I decided to run the Octoprint browser UI from the original Pi on RPi OS Legacy 32 bit as I get all my plugins running but I will also try the Kiosk browser as well, except I forgot that the original Pi does not have WiFi and I used to run it with ethernet and the room I am running this particular 3D printer in is the only room in the house that does not have ethernet as I ran out of cat6 when installing it, Amazon to the rescue with a WiFi dongle!

I have installed Chromium OS on other devices before. I think I'd rather install that on a device than Chrome OS Flex with all of Google's extra proprietary bits and "metrics".

thank you so so very much another great video and i have tried this and so happy with it use it on a very very old laptop,

Good stuff, thanks Chris!

This proves that Marc Andreesen was correct: the web has replaced Windows as the primary operating system for end users. It's too bad Netscape didn't live to see its victory.

Very informative and although I'm not a fan of cloud based computing, it does look promising for educational use. Oh, and you are a star for listing FreeBSD as an option for PC OS install.... thank you Christopher!

Thanks Chris, very interesting os . Shame it cant do 32bit.. love your exploring the many types of os compatible with older units. God bless you sir, love from sunny Wales

A nice, clear demonstration here. Google Flex OS looks very good.

I've been on a journey to find a new use to my 12 year old EEE Pc for 4 years already. Maybe chromeos flex will give it a fresh new beginning (tried Neverware before). Thanks for the tip.

Very nice but the reason why I prefer Linux is that they do not need to know anything about me.

what can i say excellent explanation as usual , thanks a lot !

Calculator - “can’t get too excited” I like it :-)

There's still only 3 options ChromeOS Flex still runs on top of a Linux Kernel, it's a Gentoo spin specifically

It looks very interesting indeed. It certainly looks more professional than ChromeOS which seemed aimed at my age group (boomers), people who generally want to browse the net and social media. In a few years I can see Flex becoming a genuine challenger to Windows. My concern is the data they gather. I know it might be impossible to cover in one video but I’d love to see a comparison of how secure each system is. From a hacker/virus/malware perspective and from a data leak perspective. I don’t mean every Linux system but maybe the two main derivatives Arch and Debian. It would have to be by someone extremely knowledgeable, open minded to different systems, trusted by their viewers and has the ability to explain things in a way even I understand. The initials CB would be an added benefit, if only I could think of someone…

Very cool Chris. I wonder how driver support is - specifically, for wifi, where I have to always add a driver in Linux for my desktop PC. (I even keep around a "known good" wifi dongle that is supported by default, so I can pull down the right driver!) I'm honestly considering if I should install this on my desktop as an alternative OS .. Most powerful thing I have but use it rarely. I know plenty about Chrome OS, love Chromebooks, so I thought this would be boring but it wasn't!

I never messed with chrome OS, but I just downloaded it and will give it a check!

As a former Support engineer for Neverware I find this to be an interesting project. Hopefully they keep updating Chrome OS Flex

Great, so now I can give Google access to every file on my PC, that's fantastic, I really must install it right away, Debian simply isn't intrusive or creepy enough. No criticism of the video Chris, thorough and well made as ever but why anyone would trust this OS is beyond me. Of course one might believe it's an entirely benevolent OS right now, and maybe it is, but it only takes one update to change that.

Woo-hoo. I am now watching this video on an ancient Toshiba laptop with an AMD E1 processor running ChromeOS Flex. And everything just works!! Thanks, Chris. This video really was enlightening.

Thanks for this. I've got an old Chromebook that is no longer getting updates. I think I'll have a go at installing Chrome OS on it.

This OS has been great for my Mum who is not technically minded she finds it easy to use. Compared to windows

Chrome OS , the way to make an old laptop less useful and more creepy

Great vid as always Chris! Do you think Chrome OS will run better than Solus OS on my old Acer Aspire One 722 with old AMD C50 processor and 8 gb ram?

I own an Asus Chromebook; it serves my needs, KZfaq and surfing. Interesting video gives me some idea to update an ex educational laptop with no OS.

I think chrome os is the only os in the world that could possibly spy on you more than windows

Unless or until it gets playstore or at least the ability to sideload android apps it is completely useless and there's no reason at all to choose Chrome OS flex over the many Linux distros out there or even the many android for desktop iterations.

I installed Flex on an old HP laptop today, and it’s exceptionally responsive and fast. A perfect computer for light use by my family.

Wow, nice information and demo on a real machine! Big thumbs up and subscribe.

Based on the accent: Whenever I say "may the society of the Anglo's collapse", I whisper "But let Christoffer Barnatt find safe haven and a dignified existence, especially if I have a say in it".

I wouldn't use it if you paid me to. Out of principle alone.

Thanks :) Can confirm totally worked.

This looks promising. Hope it will be kept minimal and clean.

70s style program format is very refreshing.

Hello Chris. great video one is google play store part of the os?

Thanks for this. I have a bad habit of not recycling computers if they hit end of life. I have a couple of computers 2010 are that are approaching end of life for a second time. Upgrading the hard drives to SSD gave them an extra five years. It looks like this lighter OS is going to give these old devices more life. I’d love to run a Python/Jupyter and R/Studio dev environment that’s portable with files that automatically syncs code to My Google drive to allow for coding to be done anywhere on a device that I won’t mourn if it’s lost, stolen or damaged beyond repair. I’m out of the game on coding, having worked on the business side for most of my career, but the business is not liking the expense of BI tools like Tableau. I like scripting solutions so that the process of analysis is documented. So much for my last post on your channel where I commented that post being in the paid labour force, a Linux Mint setup with browser and Libre Office will be more than sufficient for middle-aged me, you got me thinking about innovative use of tech today.

It will be great to see them update Flex in the future to include Play Store compatibility, would be a way endusers could update EOL Chromebooks after the 5 year point

Great video Chris! Just a quick question, I've been keen on trying Chrome OS Flex inside a virtual machine and see what changes it has to regular Chrome OS. Is there a way to run it inside VirtualBox?

Wonderfull, regards from Indonesia.... I like and always watching your video.

Thank you for the introduction to ChromeOS Flex. Is there any advice on the security ‘chips’ that that later Chromebooks have/had - as regards how best to include them in a Flex install? TIA

Wonderful video. Thank you so much for sharing