Formerly, developers who wish to run Linux apps on Chrome OS computers would have to run tools like Crouton to turn them into Linux-based developer machines, which posed a little hassle.
Google wants to change all that as it's going to start shipping Chrome OS with a virtual machine that runs Debian Stretch, the current stable version of the operating system, and the support is not just about a shell, but full support for the graphical apps.
And the possibilities are endless, as developers can run Microsoft’s Linux version of Visual Studio Code right on Chrome OS machine, and also run Windows apps in Chrome OS with the help of the Wine emulator or still be able to build Android app in the Android Studio and test it right on the Chrome laptop.
While the built-in support for Android apps was introduced to Chrome OS last year, this latest addition will make Chrome OS machines even more attractive to developers.
Albeit, there's a caveat in doing away with all of the security features that come in-built with Chrome OS. And perhaps, most regular users won’t really benefit from built-in Linux support, even as more powerful Chrome OS machines hit the market.
Nonetheless, even the less powerful machines should be able to handle a code editor without any issues.
Google has already demonstrated a preview of Linux on Chrome OS on the Pixelbook, with support for more devices coming soon.
No comments