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Download all of Google's beautiful Chromebook wallpapers for Chrome OS right here
Spice up your PC or phone with some beautiful new backgrounds
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Are you tired of looking at your old boring wallpaper? Google recently published some fancy new wallpapers for Chrome OS, and you can download them right now — even if you don't own one of these handy, reliable Chromebooks.
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Although it wasn’t always the case, finding a high-end Chromebook is a breeze these days. While the market still leans towards budget devices, Google’s Pixelbook series helped establish Chrome OS as a mid-range player, with devices like Acer’s Chromebook Spin 713 and Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook 2 combining flashy designs and real productivity strength.
Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (2021) review: The best Chromebook of 2021
Acer’s newest Spin 713 is a performance juggernaut for the price
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For the first few years, Chromebooks were merely an affordable solution for people to go online. With the ever-improving feature set of Chrome OS, manufacturers like Acer have seen more demand for premium Chromebook hardware. Last year, Acer released its successful Spin 713, which exceeded our expectations by packing speedy performance at a decent price. Now, the company offers a refreshed model that uses Intel’s latest 11th generation processor and Thunderbolt 4 to further refine the experience. The newest Spin 713 is a great follow-up to the older model who needs a powerful laptop for personal and business use, and its become one of the best Chromebooks you can buy
Google's Chrome OS Beta Community is gearing up for launch
A new platform dedicated to sharing beta updates and gathering user feedback
In addition to all of the most recent changes to the world's leading cloud-based OS, the Chrome team has also been cooking up a better way to share updates with and receive feedback from the community. It’s currently gearing up for the launch of the brand new Chrome OS Beta Community, which is a place that's designed specifically for sharing update news with beta users. It will also offer people a much easier way to share feedback directly with the team, making it a win-win for all parties.
Phone Hub for Chrome OS prepares to launch apps directly from notifications
Looks like Google's ecosystem is about to get a whole lot tighter
These days, it’s not enough for a device to be good on its own. It’s all about ecosystem lock-in, working seamlessly alongside all your other gadgets. Google has made some serious ground here, introducing features like Phone Hub to bring Chrome OS and Android closer than ever. With a future upgrade, your Chromebook might be able to launch apps straight from your phone — all with a single click from a notification.
Google Calendar integration in Chrome OS is one step closer to reality
You can try the highly requested calendar widget on Canary today
It's been two months since Google first laid the groundwork for a calendar built into the taskbar in Chrome OS. We haven't stopped dreaming of it since — even without any guarantee it would ever actually launch. With the appearance of a new flag in Chrome OS, our patience may finally be paying off.
Chromebooks could soon get one of the best Mac and iPhone Continuity features
It looks like you can make phone calls right on your laptop in the future
Chromebooks already integrate pretty neatly with phones, allowing you to see your notifications, recent photos, and battery status right in the Phone Hub living on the right side of the Chrome OS taskbar. As discovered by Chrome Unboxed, you might soon also be able to make phone calls right from your Chromebook — pretty similar to what Apple has long offered with Continuitiy on MacBooks and iPhones.
You'll soon be able to set your Chromebook's wallpaper straight from Google Photos
From those amazing landscape pics you took to those awkward family pictures
Google Photos is an amazing repertoire of pictures and memories that for many of us also serves as a resource for device wallpapers. Maybe you took an amazing picture while you were hitchhiking, or maybe you want to use an old picture that brings back good memories — I know that I've used a couple of photos from Google Photos as my phone wallpaper a handful of times. If you've wanted to use a picture from Google Photos as your wallpaper on your Chromebook, your options have been limited. Chrome OS will now soon allow you to set your wallpaper straight from your Google Photos gallery.
Three weeks with Microsoft Windows on Chrome OS: The last piece of the puzzle
Parallels Desktop for Chrome OS is here for those of us who need a Windows app every other fortnight
I love Chrome OS. In fact, I love it enough to have used a Chromebook as my daily driver for a long time. But unfortunately, I keep running into limitations, even though the operating system has come such a long way compared to its early days. But despite Linux support, there are some indispensable programs only available on Windows and macOS that I keep coming back to, like the Microsoft Office suite and Adobe Photoshop. That's where Parallels comes in, the Windows virtualization machine known mostly by macOS users.
Over the last couple of years, I have floated between three different desktop operating systems for my work and personal use. Depending on where I am and which computer is in front of me, I’ve been using mac OS, Chrome OS, and less frequently, Windows. I’ve become more or less comfortable with all three platforms and I’m able to keep a similar workflow across them all, save for one teeny tiny missing key that ruins my Chrome OS experience: there’s no skip button on my Pixelbook’s keyboard, and many Chromebooks don’t even have the play/pause one.
Chrome for desktop's latest interface tweak will make it easier to hop between search results
Available as an experiment in Chrome Canary for now
Chrome for Android recently added an experiment that allows you to move Google search results right below the address bar, making it easy to switch between found websites without having to return to the results overview itself. The company has now shared that it’s testing a similar option in Chrome for desktop, where it’s putting search results in a sidebar.
Chrome's latest experiment is like a Trapper Keeper for your search history
'Journeys' gathers all related results into a single space
Google keeps track of your activity across every device you own — something that would be terrifying if it weren’t so damn helpful. We’ve all dived back into our browser history to find something from days earlier, whether it’s a recipe, a nearby restaurant, or that long-read you didn’t finish reading. With two new Chrome experiments, Google wants to make it easier to pick up where you last left off.
Hyper's slick-looking USB-C docks are guaranteed to work with your Chromebook
Who says you can't use a Chromebook in your battlestation?
Chrome OS has had a meteoric rise in popularity, especially since cheap and easy laptops have been in such high demand lately. But they still get the short end of the stick when it comes to accessories: users generally have to hope that Google's done a good job making generic drivers for devices designed for Windows PCs. Hyper is bucking that trend with a series of sleek aluminum USB-C docks and dongles certified with the "Made for Chromebook" branding.
Our favorite Chrome OS 93 flags you should try on your Chromebook
Some of these flags also carry over to the browser on other platforms
Chrome OS 93 arrived for Chromebooks on Tuesday of last week, and it's packed with quality-of-life polish to help you enjoy your Chromebook even more. There are several additional features and tweaks that are not yet part of the default experience — including four that we detailed earlier this week. That's because they're still in development and need further refinement before being made available for millions of Chromebook users around the globe. Google has hidden these work-in-progress Chrome OS features behind a page in the Chrome browser, where you can set "flags" to toggle them on and off at will. Just take your time and be wise enough not to enable them at random — the wrong one could render your device unusable.
Google's new training game teaches your parents Chrome OS so you don't have to
The word 'game' is used pretty loosely here, but it's an excellent interactive tutorial
Learning to use a new computing platform can be difficult for anyone — even seasoned tech fans like ourselves. Years of muscle memory can make switching from MacOS to Windows or iOS to Android an uncomfortable experience. To assist new Chrome OS users, Google has gamified its tutorials, implementing videos, quizzes, and more into a single space to learn about Chromebooks.
4 hidden Chromebook features to supercharge your productivity on Chrome OS 93
Features that will take your productivity to the next level
Chrome OS 93 arrived for most Chromebooks last week, and it refines the core experience with polish (like adding a stylus battery indicator) to help make your device more enjoyable to use. It's not the most exciting release out-of-the-box, but with a little tweaking on your end, you'll be able to take advantage of some even-more-useful but experimental features that aren't part of the default Chrome OS experience yet. Here are a few of them we've found that will help take your productivity to the next level.
Lenovo announces an OLED upgrade for the Chromebook Duet and an iPad Pro alternative
Lenovo is showing off new Chrome and Android tablets, earbuds, and Unity software
Ever since the Chromebook Duet landed, I've been waiting for Lenovo to improve upon this inexpensive Surface-style tablet with some beefier hardware. Today my waiting pays off: the company's announced the Chromebook Duet 5, a sleek, OLED-screened convertible tablet rocking Chrome software. It's one of many new machines the company is revealing today at the TechWorld showcase.
Chrome OS 93 is heading to your Chromebook today, and it's all about the details
Tweaks that strengthen, mature, and enhance the overall Chrome experience
Today Google is launching Chrome OS 93 to Chromebooks, just a week after it released Chrome 93 to mobile and desktop platforms. Chromebooks have seen wild success over the last couple of years thanks to Chrome OS being reliable, secure, and easy to use, and Chrome OS 93 adds polish here and there to help you enjoy your Chromebook even more. Here are all the important features and tweaks coming with this update.
Chromebooks with Face ID authentication may be just around the corner
A new sensor could allow for face unlock, presence detection, and more, much like we know from Windows 10 and 11
It looks like Google could add face unlock and other camera-based interaction options to upcoming Chromebooks and Chrome OS. 9to5Google found evidence that the company is working on integrating a "Human Presence Sensor" that would allow for similar features like Windows 10 and 11's Hello camera.
Microsoft is ending support for Android Office apps on Chromebooks
Time to switch to a web-based editor
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Do you use Chrome OS's Android app powers to run Microsoft Office apps on your Chromebook? Well Microsoft would like you to stop, please. And starting in September, the company will do more than ask. Office apps originally intended for Android will no longer be supported on Chrome OS beginning next month, according to a Microsoft spokesperson.