Google plan to bring full Linux app support to Chromebooks

SuperTuxKart - and other Linux apps and games - coming to Chromebooks soon

Google is bringing support for Linux apps to its Chrome operating system, introducing the feature in preview today with a view to rolling it out, first to its own (expensive) Google Pixelbooks, and then other Chromebooks at a later date.

By the end of the year, you'll be able to run Linux terminal, Git, Sublime, Vim and Android Studio all on Chromebooks. A dedicated Android Studio for Chrome OS is on the way, too.

The whole thing is, claims Google, going to be seamless - simply pick the app you want, regardless of the operating system and it will all run within the Chrome OS environment.

The lynchpin is Google's use of Debian Stretch - that is to say, as long as there is a version of the code that runs on Debian, you'll be fine to code and run in any IDE you like.

There had been some speculation that Google was poised to release an option to dual boot into Windows, in part in response to the concern that the Pixelbook was priced too high for something that can't run the world's most popular consumer operating system.

However, there's been no further word on that, but what we have got represents almost everything else you could possibly want as a programmer - it makes Chrome OS a much stronger coding platform altogether.

Whilst the coding is a big advert, there's also a huge attraction in being able to use Linux to plug some gaps in the Chrome OS/Android library of applications and games.

The addition of years of full-fledged, desktop designed apps and games certainly makes the prospect of ditching Windows a lot more tempting, although it will probably take more than SuperTuxKart to persuade most people to dump Windows in favour of a Chrome OS or a Chromebook.