Aluminium OS is the AI-powered successor to ChromeOS

The convergence of mobile and desktop operating systems is a goal that has remained elusive for big tech companies since the early days of smartphones. Microsoft’s attempt in the form of Windows Mobile had reached the end of its path by 2010, and although Apple’s iOS/iPadOS and macOS have been moving very slowly toward each other over the past few years, Cupertino has yet to reach the mythical goal of one operating system to rule them all.

But Google’s big play to merge ChromeOS and Android into a unified PC platform (codenamed Aluminum OS) is gradually taking shape. Android laptops are scheduled to launch in 2026, and the company wants to put its LLM certifications at the center of the user experience.

Hardware purchasing decisions may be aligned with the company’s AI strategy in the enterprise and, therefore, in the coming year. The prospect of Chromebook-style hardware and an accompanying lower price will be attractive to both organizations considering the next round of hardware updates, as well as strategists who want to put AI at the heart of their employees’ daily work. Soon, they may have a common solution.

It’s early days in converged device development at Google, but the company is well known for floating ideas that don’t go far and abandoning technologies that can’t monetize them effectively enough. Unlike some of the company’s projects that may stem from its “20%” policy (employees at Google are encouraged to devote 20% of their time to important projects), the large Android development community and Google’s policy of putting Gemini front and center may serve as an accelerator for the new, converging OS needs.

Android’s existing AI capabilities, such as the Magic Editor for images and audio transcription and summarization, will fit in very well with a workplace desktop. However, if Google wants to allay security professionals’ concerns, it may have to rely on small, local models for AI processing, rather than accessing Gemini’s cloud instances for the required computing power. This raises doubts about the continuation of one of the Chromebook range’s big selling points – its low price compared to full workstations.

There is also a delicate balance that a company needs to strike. Forcing users into an AI-focused workflow hasn’t been good for Microsoft: note the hype around Recall and the muted response to its much-reduced offspring that has emerged from Copilot Labs. What Google needs is a killer AI feature that benefits the organization, and that may or may not be something targeted at users.

There’s no denying that the addition of Gemini to Google Workspace has done wonders for the platform in terms of its competitiveness with Office 365 — despite a significant price hike earlier this year — driven in part by new features like live translation in Google Meet and AI responses available in Gmail. Users He does You find some AI tools useful, but it may become clear that user-facing AI is a useful addition to existing workflows, not a catalyst that changes everything.

If Gemini or Gemini Nano is placed at the heart of the new operating system, Google may be looking to provide value to different parts of the organization from the day-to-day tasks that users handle. Robot body It suggests that intelligent energy management, hardware provisioning, and contextual awareness in access to enterprise resources may be on the table. However, it is difficult to see how these elements will be game-changers for procurement teams.

Google has many issues to solve at a deeper level, such as compatibility with peripherals, operating system-level drivers, and necessary changes to Android’s GUI to make it a great experience for end users using a mouse and keyboard. But given enough effort and investment (which the company does not lack), these problems can be overcome relatively easily. A thriving application ecosystem will ensure that the necessary tools, if not immediately available, can be provided with minimal effort.

Ultimately, the success of Aluminum OS will depend on Google’s ability to deliver a platform that solves tangible problems and integrates with existing workflows. Google sees AI in the form of Gemini (or a localized Gemini Nano instance) powering a platform that provides end-to-end problem solving. Achieving this goal will generate demand, and a lower price per device may be the decision for purchasing teams. If Google gets it right, it can replicate the success it had in the education market with the original Chromebook project, and there could be a big shift by enterprise fleets to Aluminum OS and Google Workspaces.

There are big gains to be made for a company that dominates the worldwide mobile market and is making serious inroads into the enterprise workstation market. Additionally, the elusive hardware convergence will be much closer to becoming a reality.

(Image source: “Macro Monday: Aluminum Buttons (Al on the League)” by cchana licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.)

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