Google is bringing desktop Windows apps to Chromebooks

By Shubham Agarwal June 16, 2020

One of the key complaints about what has prevented traditional PC users from switching to Chrome OS has been the absence of desktop apps. Google wants to fix that in order to shape Chromebooks as a more viable option for enterprises that especially rely on legacy apps. In partnership with virtualization software maker, Parallels, Google has announced it’s bringing support for proper Windows apps, including Microsoft Office, to Chrome OS.

In a blog post discussing the remote future of workforces, John Solomon, vice president of the Chrome OS division, said that Google is now working with Parallels to “add legacy application support — which includes Microsoft Office desktop apps— to Chromebooks.”

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“We’ve long been saying that almost any business role can be a cloud worker, and COVID-19 has dramatically made this point. As a result, the Chrome OS team is working on new ways to make sure every company can benefit from the velocity created by supporting a cloud workforce,” Solomon added.

While Google didn’t comment on the feature’s timeline, Solomon said there’s “more to come on this over the coming months.” It also didn’t offer any demos or comment on what the end result would look like.

While Chrome OS users always had the clumsy option to run Windows desktop apps by streaming them through a Parallels Remote Application Server, this new update means they’ll be able to install them locally in a virtual environment.

Computing jargon aside, the bottom line is that Chromebooks will soon be better equipped to serve enterprise users who still actively depend on full-fledged desktop software. However, this likely will be restricted to productivity software and not resource-intensive apps such as Steam or Adobe Premiere Pro since they won’t be technically running natively as Android or Linux apps.

Unfortunately, at least initially, Parallels support will remain exclusive to commercial Chromebooks users and won’t be available for everyone. We’ve reached out to Google for more information and we will update the story when we hear back.

Over the last two years, Google has dramatically expanded what users can do on a Chromebook. In addition to Android apps, Chrome OS users can run Linux software including the programming platform, Android Studio. The Chromebook market in general, as well, has seen a huge wave of premium options from Samsung, Asus, and more. Dell reportedly is also expected to launch a Chrome OS version of its XPS lineup.

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Shubham Agarwal

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Shubham Agarwal is a freelance technology journalist from Ahmedabad, India. His work has previously appeared in Firstpost…

Computing

Google is bringing AI to the classroom — in a big way

a teacher teaching teens

Google is already incorporating its Gemini AI assistant into the rest of its product ecosystem to help individuals and businesses streamline their existing workflows. Now, the Silicon Valley titan is looking to bring AI into the classroom.
While we've already seen the damage that teens can do when given access to generative AI, Google argues that it is taking steps to ensure the technology is employed responsibly by students and academic faculty alike.
Following last year's initial rollout of a teen-safe version of Gemini for personal use, the company at the time decided to not enable the AI's use with school-issued accounts. That will change in the coming months as Google makes the AI available free of charge to students in over 100 countries though its Google Workspace for Education accounts and school-issued Chromebooks.
Teens that meet Google's minimum age requirements -- they have to be 13 or older in the U.S., 18 or over in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, Canada, and the U.K. -- will be able to converse with Gemini as they would on their personal accounts. That includes access to features like Help me write, Help me read, generative AI backgrounds, and AI-powered noise cancellation. The company was quick to point out that no personal data from this program will be used to train AI models, and that school administrators will be granted admin access to implement or remove features as needed.
What's more, teens will be able to organize and track their homework assignments through Google Task and Calendar integrations as well as collaborate with their peers using Meet and Assignments.
Google Classroom will also integrate with the school's Student Information System (SIS), allowing educators to set up classes and import pertinent data such as student lists and grading settings. They'll also have access to an expanded Google for Education App Hub with 16 new app integrations including Kami, Quizizz, and Screencastify available at launch.
Students will also have access to the Read Along in Classroom feature, which provides them with real-time, AI-based reading help. Conversely, educators will receive feedback from the AI on the student's reading accuracy, speed, and comprehension.
In the coming months, Google also hopes to introduce the ability for teachers to generate personalized stories tailored to each student's specific education needs. The feature is currently available in English, with more than 800 books for teachers to choose from, though it will soon offer support for other languages, starting with Spanish.
Additionally, Google is piloting a suite of Gemini in Classroom tools that will enable teachers to "define groups of students in Classroom to assign different content based on each group’s needs." The recently announced Google Vids, which helps users quickly and easily cut together engaging video clips, will be coming to the classroom as well. A non-AI version of Vids arrives on Google Workspace for Education Plus later this year, while the AI-enhanced version will only be available as a Workspace add-on.
That said, Google has apparently not forgotten just how emotionally vicious teenagers can be. As such, the company is incorporating a number of safety and privacy tools into the new AI system. For example, school administrators will be empowered to prevent students from initiating direct messages and creating spaces to hinder bullying.
Admins will also have the option to block access to Classroom from compromised Android and iOS devices, and can require multiparty approval (i.e. at least two school officials) before security-sensitive changes (like turning off two-step authentication) can be implemented.
Google is introducing a slew of accessibility features as well. Chromebooks will get a new Read Aloud feature in the Chrome browser, for example. Extract Text from PDF will leverage OCR technology to make PDFs accessible to screen readers through the Chrome browser, while the Files app will soon offer augmented image labels to assist screen readers with relaying the contents of images in Chrome.
Later this year, Google also plans to release a feature that will allow users to control their Chromebooks using only their facial expressions and head movements.
These features all sound impressive and should help bring AI into the classroom in a safe and responsible manner -- in theory, at least. Though given how quickly today's teens can exploit security loopholes to bypass their school's web filters, Google's good intentions could ultimately prove insufficient.

Mobile

Your Google Photos app may soon get a big overhaul. Here’s what it looks like

The Google Photos app running on a Google Pixel 8 Pro.

Google Photos is set to get a long-overdue overhaul that will bring new and improved sharing and notification features to the app. With its automatic backups, easy sorting and search, and album sharing, Google Photos has always been one of the better photo apps, and now it's set to get a whole slew of AI features.

According to an APK teardown done by Android Authority and the leaker AssembleDebug, Google is now set to double down on improving sharing features. Google Photos will get a new social-focused sharing page in version 6.85.0.637477501 for Android devices.

Computing

You’ll soon be able to control your Chromebook with just your face

Project Gameface being used to write an email.

Chromebooks have AI too. Google's recent comments on its AI advances arrived between Microsoft's big Copilot+ announcement and the forthcoming Apple AI news. In addition to outlining a few new AI features that are now available for Google's Chromebook Plus line of laptops, Google previewed a fascinating feature coming later that would let you control the entirety of your Chromebook with just your face.

Using computer vision and the webcam built into your Chromebook, you'll soon be able to talk to it, move your face, and make hand gestures to control your Chromebook. Google calls it Project Gameface, and it's being built right into ChromeOS. The feature was originally announced via a blog post on May 10, and is aimed at creating a "hands-free, AI-powered gaming mouse," but now it's being expanded and is officially coming to Chromebooks.