Chrome OS + Android, Two Years Later (Premium)

I think it's fair to say that I've been semi-obsessed by Google's decision to add Android app support to Chrome OS: I see this combined platform as a clear and present danger to Windows 10 and, more important, the most aggressive step yet taken by a competitor to unseat Microsoft's desktop platform in its core remaining markets.

Microsoft's response to this threat has often been tone-deaf, mirroring, in some ways, its absurd response to the iPhone and multi-touch smartphones a decade ago. And it has done itself no favors by making the Windows experience less bearable with in-product advertising, crapware bundling, Windows 10 S/S mode, and other initiatives aimed at reinventing the product at the expense of its users.

Fortunately for Microsoft, however, the combination of the Android apps platform has required far more time and effort than Google originally anticipated. The online giant announced this effort two years ago and said at the time that it expected to fully deliver on this combined experience by the end of 2016.

Nope. 2016 came and went with just basic Android app support, in beta form, and on a small range of devices. And I then spent all of 2017 waiting for the revolution that never came. At Google I/O one year ago, the firm provided an update on the situation, implicitly admitting to the difficulties.

Done correctly, Android apps running on Chrome OS should be hugely disruptive, and have the opportunity, as I called it before this initiative was announced, to pull the plug on the PC industry.

And we did finally see signs of life from late 2017 onward, from Google's amazing Pixelbook, which provides an elegant, convertible PC form factor on which to run this hybrid platform, to various system improvements like split-screen support, improved tethering, full tablet support, and more. Things have heated up quite a bit in recent months.

And I/O 2018 was last week. As expected, Google provided an update on the ability of Chrome OS to run Android apps. This session was a continuation of a talk from last year's I/O, and it provides an interesting update on the platform's progress at the 2-year mark of the original announcement.

So where are we at?

First, Google provided an interesting look at its Chrome OS milestones over the past year. The system is now the most popular in the education market in the United States, with Chromebooks outselling all other PC platforms combined. And it's not just in the U.S.: As discussed previously, Chromebooks are making inroads in education in places like western Europe, Australia, Canada, and elsewhere too. Its success is spreading.

But it's not just education: In Q4 2017, over 17 percent of all notebooks sold in the U.S. were Chromebooks, Google noted at I/O. The success of this system is spreading beyond education too.

From a technological perspective, Google has spent two years fine-tuning----I'd say "fixing"---the user experience of running Android apps on Chrome. M...