After partnering with virtualisation expert ‘Parallels’ a while back, Google’s product manager for Chrome OS, Cyrus Mistry, has explained to The Verge how the company is going to allow Windows apps access to Chrome OS.
He says that when the feature arrives, users will be able to run Windows apps on Chrome OS simultaneously. The feature is said to be available on modern and enterprise Chromebooks while the exact specifications are not known yet. Though you can’t replace your entire Windows desktop with this, it should be able to get the job done by running windows apps virtually.
Parallels is a virtualisation platform which has already perfected the coherence feature on MacOS, and Linux. They have support for the above mentioned platforms and Mistry says the feature on ChromeOS will be similar and believes that the company can pull it off just like they did for the others.
To recall, back in 2018, we saw evidence of a new project named eve-campfire which was expected to be named “Alt OS” to enable dual-boot mode on ChromeOS. But now, Mistry has cleared the air by saying that they did try a similar option but had to call it off due to security reasons.
Coming back, the new feature will also redirect supported windows files inside the ChromeOS directly to the Parallels desktop and Mistry said that this will offer best of both worlds and provide a seamless experience without having to switch entirely to a windows desktop.
Having said that, definite launch date and pricing of Parallel Desktop for Chromebook is yet to be known. However, a page has been set up which describes the feature and displays a form to sign up for newsletters.
Additionally, Verge said that resellers can bundle the feature on high-end Chromebooks and IT admins can enable the access for the enterprise versions. That said, the new feature will surely grab more windows audience into the ChromeOS ecosystem, but going by Mistry’s words users will probably need a “power usage” Chromebooks to get the best out of it.
