Enlarge (credit: Getty )

Linux reached 4.03 percent of global market share in February, according to data from research firm Statcounter . That takes Linux past the 3 percent milestone it reached in June 2023. While we’re still far from the Year of the Linux Desktop, interest in Linux has somewhat grown lately.

Statcounter says it gets its desktop operating system (OS) usage stats from tracking code installed on over 1.5 million global websites generating over 5 billion monthly page views. The only adjustments the firm says it makes to this data are around removing bot activity and adjusting for Google Chrome prerendering. Note that when Statcounter analyzes desktop OSes, it also includes laptop computers, and Statcounter says it may revise its data within 45 days of publication.

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  Global desktop OS adoption, per Statcounter. [credit: Statcounter ]

As spotted by Linuxiac , Linux’s reported desktop market share was higher than ever in February. If you count ChromeOS as a Linux OS, then market share totaled 6.34 percent in February, although, that number is actually smaller than what Statcounter reported in June: 2 percent.

Enlarge / Asus' Chromebook Flip CX5 was one of the streaming-oriented gaming Chromebooks announced late last year. (credit: Asus)

Google and some of its Chromebook partners decided to try making " gaming Chromebooks " a thing late last year. These machines included some gaming laptop features like configurable RGB keyboards and high refresh rate screens, but because they still used integrated GPUs, they were meant mostly for use with streaming services like Nvidia's GeForce Now and Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming .

But there were also apparently plans for some gaming Chromebooks with the power to play more games locally. Earlier this year, 9to5Google spotted developer comments earlier this year pointing to a Chromebook board (codenamed Hades) that would have included a dedicated GeForce RTX 4050 GPU like the one found in some Windows gaming notebooks. This board would have served as a foundation that multiple PC makers could have used to build Chromebooks.

But these models apparently won't be seeing the light of day anytime soon. Developer comments spotted by About Chromebooks this week indicate that the Hades board (plus a couple of other Nvidia-equipped boards, Agah and Herobrine) has been canceled, which means that any laptops based on that board won't be happening.

(credit: Valentina Palladino)

It looks like Google's long-running project to split up ChromeOS and its Chrome browser will be shipping out to the masses soon. Kevin Tofel's About Chromebooks has spotted flags that turn on the feature by default for ChromeOS 116 and up. 116 is currently in beta and should be live in the stable channel sometime this month.

The project is called " Lacros " which Google says stands for " L inux A nd C h R ome OS ." This will split ChromeOS's Linux OS from the Chrome browser, allowing Google to update each one independently. Google documentation on the project says, "On Chrome OS, the system UI (ash window manager, login screen, etc.) and the web browser are the same binary. Lacros separates this functionality into two binaries, henceforth known as ash-chrome (system UI) and lacros-chrome (web browser)." Part of the project involves sprucing up the ChromeOS OS, and Google's docs say, "Lacros can be imagined as 'Linux chrome with more Wayland support.'"

Previously ChromeOS was using a homemade graphics stack called " Freon ," but now with Wayland, it'll be on the new and normal desktop Linux graphic stack. Google's 2016 move to Freon was at a time when it could have moved from X11 (the old, normal desktop Linux graphics stock) directly to Wayland, but it decided to take this custom detour instead. Google says this represents "more Wayland support" because Wayland was previously used for Android and Linux apps, but now it'll be used for the native Chrome OS graphics, too.

Enlarge / US PIRG's "Chromebook Churn" report casts a harsh spotlight on flaws in Chromebook repairability and longevity. (credit: Scharon Harding)

Google is in the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) hot seat. This week, the nonprofit published its "Chromebook Churn" [ PDF ] report, pointing a finger at Google for enabling Chromebooks that “aren’t designed to last.” It highlighted Chromebook quirks, like seemingly pointless hardware tweaks across models that challenge parts-sourcing and automatic update expiration (AUE) dates, as examples of the repair-averse Chromebook culture Google has enabled. For target Chromebook markets, like schools, that opt for Chromebooks to save money, long-term costs may outweigh the immediate savings, PIRG’s analysis concluded.

The report focuses on Chromebooks in schools and is based on an unspecified number (we've reached out to PIRG for a firm head count) of interviews with "school IT directors, technicians, journalists, repair shop owners, parts suppliers, and teachers," as well as a "five-question survey with 13 school IT administrators and technicians." The sample size could be much larger, but the details in the report are also based on undisputed characteristics of ChromeOS devices. And while PIRG's paper emphasizes the impact this all has for schools, especially considering the influx of Chromebooks purchased for schools during the COVID-19 pandemic's height and beyond, it's food for thought for any current or prospective Chromebook owners or people who like to vote with their dollar.

Sneaky design changes hinder repairs

The report, written by PIRG's Designed to Last Campaign director, Lucas Rockett Gutterman, argues that because Chromebooks are largely web-based and don't vary in power as much as other laptops, it should be "easy" to offer modular designs that allow for parts to be shared across Chromebook models. Indeed, Framework's modular Chromebook proves this is possible. But in its "Failing the Fix" [ PDF ] report from February, PIRG reported that Chromebooks have an average French repairability index score of 5.8 out of 10, compared to 6.9 for all non-Chromebook laptops.

Enlarge / For the first time since their 2011 launch, ChromeOS devices are seemingly going to allow custom keyboard shortcuts for navigation, browsing, and other functions. (credit: Google)

ChromeOS devices have become far more useful since the Cr-48 . With Linux and Android apps, and "web only" being far less of a hindrance these days, they're compelling as a secondary machine. But having to learn a whole separate set of keyboard shortcuts to use them efficiently is always going to be painful.

But help is on the way, if some experimental features in the latest beta ChromeOS release (111) are any indication. As spotted in Kevin Tofel's About Chromebooks blog , an updated version of the shortcut viewer in the Settings app— first seen in October 2022 —has the early makings of a shortcut changing and adding mechanism.

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  ChromeOS' keyboard shortcuts viewer, with experimental flags enabled and showing lock icons next to shortcuts, along with "Reset all shortcuts" button. [credit: Kevin Purdy ]

Clicking on a shortcut brings up a dialogue that allows you to, at the moment, add alternative shortcuts to common shortcuts for manipulating tabs, windows and desktops, system settings, accessibility, and other utilities. A small "lock" icon next to each suggests that you might also be able to unlock these shortcuts to remove or alter their defaults. A "Reset all shortcuts" button offers another hint. Sadly, none of the shortcuts you add seem to work for the moment, though the promise is there.

Enlarge / ChromeOS will feature better OneDrive and Microsoft 365 support "later this year." (credit: Google)

Google and Microsoft don't always take pains to make sure their products work great together—Google originally declared Microsoft's Chromium-based Edge browser " not supported " by the Google Drive web apps; Microsoft is always trying to make you use Bing —but it looks like Google's ChromeOS will start working a bit better with the Microsoft 365 service later this year.

Google says ChromeOS will add a "new integration" for Microsoft 365 , making it easier to install the app and adding built-in support for OneDrive in ChromeOS' native Files app. This should allow users to search for and access OneDrive files the same way they get to local files, or files stored in their Google Drive account. The integration will be added in "the coming months," and users in ChromeOS' dev and beta channels will be able to access it before it rolls out to all ChromeOS users later this year.

ChromeOS users can currently access OneDrive and other Microsoft 365 services through their web interfaces or Android apps installed via the Google Play Store, but they don't integrate with the built-in ChromeOS Files app the way that Google Drive does. This integration will help close that gap for people who, for example, use Google products at home but Microsoft products at work or vice versa.

Enlarge / The Chromebook Edition of the Framework Laptop. (credit: Framework)

Fans of the modular Framework Laptop who also prefer ChromeOS to Windows or Linux are in for a treat: Framework and Google are announcing a Chromebook Edition of the Laptop today . It has the same basic hardware design and works with most of the same parts as the regular Framework Laptop but with tweaks to make it a full-fledged Chromebook.

While you could always take a standard Framework Laptop and install ChromeOS Flex on it, the standard version of ChromeOS still has a few features that Flex doesn't, including Android app support via Google Play, automated firmware updates, and a few other security and device management features .

Framework says that the Chromebook Edition laptop will be available for preorder starting today —a version with a Core i5-1240P CPU will cost $999, although you'll only need to put down $100 to reserve your preorder. Orders begin shipping in December. Framework is also putting parts specific to the Chromebook Edition laptop into its Framework Marketplace parts store .

Enlarge (credit: Scharon Harding)

If you're not a frequent ChromeOS user, determining an in-hand Chromebook's specs can be tricky. Many Chromebook users are satisfied just using the machines to surf the web and, thus, don't often have a need to check on things like processor model or memory usage. As a result, this information can seem a bit buried.

But sometimes you want to know how much RAM a Chromebook is using, what CPU it has and whether it's maxing its cores, or how much storage remains. Whether you're troubleshooting a slower Chromebook, teaching someone about their ChromeOS device, wondering if a Chromebook could support Steam , or just want to get to know a Chromebook better, here are the simplest ways to look at the basic hardware specs of a Chromebook.

How to check Chromebook CPU usage

If a Chromebook is running slowly, it could be helpful to check CPU usage to see how hard the processor is working and which apps it's using that are the most taxing.