If Chrome and OS feel good together, who are we to judge?
Chrome OS is Google’s operating system for laptops (Chromebooks, to be precise), built around the company’s browser of the same name. For years, the software has gone by the official designation of Chrome OS written in two words. But it looks like that could change soon, as reports suggest that Google is doing away with the space, leaving us with “ChromeOS.”
The new report comes to us courtesy of the folks at 9to5Google. They combed through Google’s newly posted, yet to be completed code changes, with the company replacing around 1,000 instances of “Chrome OS” with “ChromeOS.” The changes are said to range from text visible to Chromebook users to internal comments reserved for developers. This subtle branding update would unify the name across the board and make Google’s offerings more consistent.
In the past, we’ve seen instances where Google styled the operating system as chromeOS with a lowercase c and without the space, mostly in development-focused environments. Plus, the Chromebooks moniker doesn’t have any space, so the company clearly believed that something had to be done.
The branding isn’t limited to Chrome OS, though. The report notes that Google’s open-source version of the software, Chromium OS, will also get a similar name change — losing the space to become ChromiumOS. That said, the tech giant has yet to bring the change to its official websites and assorted documentation.
Chrome OS has been growing rapidly, with previous reports pointing to a 92 percent rise in Chromebook adoption in 2020 compared to 2019. There’s also been a 190 percent increase in app usage on Chromebooks alongside a 270% growth in PWA installs year-over-year since the start of 2021. The operating system has been doing so well that Google created a special version called Chrome OS Flex to breathe life into old Windows systems.
You might soon see us using this new ChromeOS branding without the space, at least once — or if — Google makes it an official thing. In any case, Chrome OS wouldn’t be the first Google product to be rebranded out of the blue. The company rebranded its watch operating system Android Wear to Wear OS a while back, just like it now calls its G Suite enterprise offerings Google Workspace. The list continues with messier transitions, like Google TV and Android TV, which continue to co-exist next to each other. We can only hope that things will be clearer with ChromeOS once or if it goes live.
UPDATE: 2022/04/29 15:15 EST BY AROL WRIGHT
Live in Canary
It’s official. Canary version 103.0.5030.0 of the operating system makes the rebrand a reality (via 9to5Google). Chrome OS is no more — instead, it’ll now be known as ChromeOS.
If this is anything to go by, this minor rebrand will likely arrive in your Chromebook with version 103, which means all laptops should be getting it by June 23rd.
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