Google has reportedly been working on folding ChromeOS into Android since 2015, but its efforts appear to have stalled in recent years. However, we’ve just seen some evidence of the company’s work on this project through a bug report on the Chromium Issue Tracker. The company has since made the report private, but not before 9to5Google shared the screen captures. The device involved was reportedly an HP Elite Dragonfly 13.5-inch Chromebook running build ALOS: ZL1A.260119.001.A1. “ALOS” supposedly refers to Aluminum OS, which is the codename for the Android desktop that’s being developed to replace ChromeOS.
The most obvious difference between ChromeOS and Aluminum OS is that the taskbar is slightly taller, making it more suitable for devices with larger screens. Google also moved the date and time from the lower right to the upper left corner of the screen, while the status settings seem to have been moved to the upper right corner, making it look a bit more similar to macOS. Google Chrome browser also remains mostly similar to what you get on Android but now comes with Extensions, and we also see an example of side-by-side multitasking on the large screen. But aside from that, we don’t see any other major differences or features, especially given that it’s just screen recording for a bug report.
Another tidbit of information we can garner from this is that the Android desktop version is seemingly running on old hardware — the HP Elite Dragonfly 13.5-inch Chromebook mentioned in the report launched in early 2022, featuring a 12th-generation Intel processor. Although it could be that Google is just using existing hardware to validate the operating system, it could also mean that it’s planning to allow (or even force) existing ChromeOS users to update to Aluminum OS once it officially comes out.
There’s no official announcement yet on the exact date that Aluminum OS will arrive, although Google said that it expects to deliver the new operating system by 2026. This leak shows that it’s probably coming sooner, rather than later, especially as it already seems to be working and is probably already in an early, closed Beta stage. Nevertheless, many are curious as to what it can accomplish, especially as Windows 11 is known for its buggy updates, especially with the recent spate of issues, while macOS is often an expensive option that’s out of reach for many buyers.
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