Enlarge (credit: Google)

It has been almost three years since Chromebook users got word that Steam support is coming to ChromeOS. We're still not totally there yet, but today Google announced that it's ready to enter beta testing.

In a blog post, Zach Alcorn, Google product manager, announced that Steam on Chromebooks is available as a beta with ChromeOS 108.0.5359.24 and later. Steam on ChromeOS entered alpha in March, and Alcorn said the updates announced today are based on "thousands of gameplay reports."

AMD support

The Steam on ChromeOS alpha required not just an Intel CPU, but also an Intel 11th-gen Core i5 chip with Intel's Iris Xe graphics. The beta supports Intel's latest 12th-gen chips and extends support to Team Red. Alcorn said the beta supports AMD's Ryzen 5000 C-Series CPUs.

Enlarge / The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook (pictured) is one of three cloud gaming-focused Chromebooks announced today. (credit: Google)

The final nail is all but driven into Google Stadia's coffin, with Google announcing that it will shut down the game streaming service on January 18. In a meeting with the press this week, Google said it still sees cloud gaming as a huge profit driver for the company moving ahead. With Stadia on its way out, though, Google will have to rely on gaming platforms and manufacturing partners. Today, three so-called gaming Chromebooks were announced from Acer, Asus, and Lenovo, boasting high specs for Chromebooks, including refresh rates up to 144 Hz. Google said it optimized the devices for streaming games from Nvidia GeForce Now, Amazon Luna, and the Xbox Cloud Gaming beta.

Gaming Chromebooks: Specs and features

The Acer Chromebook 516 GE , Asus Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip (CX5501) 2-in-1, and Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook announced today stand out with more premium specs than the average, more budget-friendly Chromebook, including higher-resolution screens that support gamer-level refresh rates and beefier CPUs. Google said the computers range from $399–$799.

Here's a quick overview of the specs:

Enlarge / HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook.

Chromebooks are tired of being treated like second-class citizens.

Over the last decade, the developers of ChromeOS have attempted to evolve the operating system with features that could put it more on par with macOS and Windows. Google has been pushing Chromebooks as business machines, touting the purported simplicity and security benefits of their pared down operating system.

HP's new Elite Dragonfly Chromebook represents a ChromeOS device pushed to the limits, from its appearance to its components.

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.

Enlarge / Google Chrome OS Flex. (credit: Google )

Google today announced in a blog post that ChromeOS Flex, a version of its Chromebook operating system suitable for most hardware, has moved from early access to general availability. It also said it certified "over 400" devices, including systems from Apple, Dell, and HP, to run the OS smoothly and stably.

Google announced ChromeOS Flex in February, building upon its 2020 acquisition of CloudReady (CloudReady becomes ChromeOS Flex now that the latter is stable). Cloud OS Flex is downloadable to a USB drive for free, allowing you to install it on a Mac or Windows PC.

The most obvious use for ChromeOS Flex is to bring new life to a dated machine that may be too old to get software updates for its native OS. Our ChromeOS Flex beta review found the OS to be an interesting alternative for people content with doing most of their computing in a browser and for getting a budget-level Chromebook experience from an 8-to 9-year-old system.

Enlarge (credit: Scharon Harding)

Google is testing a method to boost the battery life of Chromebooks by changing how they work with the Chrome web browser. It's shaping up to be a potentially attractive update for users who leave a lot of tabs open on their Chromebooks.

Google Chrome currently cuts the CPU time and throttles the CPU load for any tab you haven't touched or looked at for five minutes. Google calls this " intensive throttling of JavaScript timer wake up, " and it's supposed to help conserve system battery life. The feature also makes the page wake up once every 60 seconds to check if you're actively using the tab again.

It seems Google is interested in pushing the idea even further, at least for Chromebook users. About Chromebooks this week spotted a new flag in Chrome OS 105, currently being tested in the dev channel, that changes this five-minute period to 10 seconds.

Enlarge (credit: Acer )

Google announced Chrome 103 on Thursday, making it easier to share photos from Android to your Chromebook. The company also said an update that will simplify Bluetooth connections is on the way.

As detailed in a blog post by Alexander Kuscher, director of Chrome OS Software at Google, the update builds on the Phone Hub app released to Chrome OS last year. It works with smartphones running Android 5.1 and later and lets you view the phone's text messages and battery life and bring over tabs from your mobile Chrome browser to your Chromebook's browser.

In Chrome 103, photos you take on your Android Phone will automatically show up in the Phone Hub under a new "Recent photos" section.

Enlarge (credit: Getty )

Google is working to make the use of multiple windows in Chrome OS a bit more flexible. While Chromebooks are currently limited to two windows, each taking up 50 percent of the screen, it appears users will soon have the option to have one window occupy two-thirds of the screen while the second window uses the remaining third.

As first spotted by the Chrome Story blog and noted by Chrome Unboxed on Sunday, a code change in the Chromium Gerrit points to a developing feature meant to "add partial split." This is just an experimental flag, so its release, while likely, isn't guaranteed.

The feature as currently being developed would reportedly still limit Chrome OS users to viewing two windows on a Chromebook screen but add greater flexibility. Potential use cases include using the smaller window for a social media feed or using one window for pulling information from and another for taking notes and writing on.

Enlarge / HP Elite c645 G2 Chromebook. (credit: HP)

AMD is upping the ante when it comes to Chromebooks. While still a ways off from having Chrome OS devices with the capabilities of the Ryzen 6000 mobile CPUs, Team Red announced the Ryzen 5000 C-series for Chromebooks on Thursday. The top chip in the series has eight of AMD's Zen 3 cores, giving systems that use it more x86 CPU cores than any other Chromebook. The chips aren't just a nice idea either; HP and Acer have already detailed Chromebooks they plan to release with the chips this year.

The 7nm Ryzen 5000 C-series ranges from the Ryzen 3 5125C with two Zen 3 cores and a base and boost clock speed of 3 GHz, up to the Ryzen 7 5825C with eight cores and a base clock speed of 2 GHz that can boost to 4.5 GHz. For comparison, the highest end Intel chip found in Thursday's Chromebooks, the i7-1185G7, has four cores and a base clock speed of 3 GHz that can boost to 4.8 GHz. You can take a look at the Ryzen 5000 C-series full specs below:

AMD Ryzen 5000 C-series specs. (credit: AMD)

On their own, the chips aren't that exciting. They seemingly offer similar performance to the already-released Ryzen 5000 U-series chips. The Ryzen 5000 C-series also uses years-old Vega integrated graphics rather than the upgraded RDNA 2 found in Ryzen 6000 mobile chips, which, upon release, AMD said are "up to 2.1 times faster."