The Chrome OS team takes the time every now and then to give the new setup of the device a fresh coat of paint. By giving new graphics and a more user-friendly “out of the box experience”, or OOBE as we call it, they can increase the adoption rate for Chromebooks a bit by making it accessible and friction for those who are on the go , to reduce.
A new Chromium Bug report shows a brand new startup screen for the OOBE and indicates that the various sub-screens that guide the user through the setup process will also be redesigned before coming to the Stable channel.
[CrOS] OOBE: Update welcome screen to the new layout
[CrOS] OOBE: Update welcome screens
Chromium Bug Tracker
If you compare the new theme to the current one you get when you set up or wash a Chromebook, then there are different comments. First, and of course, the new graphics. Google has decided to take up more of the screen’s real estate to humanize the device using human graphics, well, using devices. It also uses the slogan “Fast. Safe. Effortlessly. Previously, Chrome OS had the slogan “Speed. Safety. Simplicity. ”
Next, you’ll notice that instead of saying “Welcome to your Chromebook” or “Welcome to your Chrome OS device”, it says “Welcome to Chrome device”. Chrome device may be intended to act as a placeholder for the name or model of your device, but because it omits ‘OS’ from the Chrome device name, it’s strangely noticeable to me .
Look at the graphics of the people – their Chromebooks are beautiful, right? Wait, what is it? Only one of them uses a Chromebook? That’s right- this screen is probably not just for Chromebooks, and I do think ‘Chrome devices’ were intentional. To me, it does not seem like a mistake or a placeholder with bad grammar. Although the Chrome team repeats quickly and often has an error or two in the way they express their connections and comments to each other, it still excuses the interesting use of other graphical hardware configurations.
Instead, the person in the middle uses a phone, and the person on the left holds what looks like a Chromebook but holds it with one hand. Because it’s a weird choice for a vector illustration, since Google never recommends holding your Chromebook in the palm of your hand, it, my friends, could very well be a foldable Chrome device!
Let’s not forget that when Google launched the Chromeos.dev website, it prominently featured an image that clearly shows a phone and a foldable device next to the tablet and Chromebook. To date, none of these device configurations exist in a Chrome OS variant.
While the site aims to help developers customize their Android apps with Chromebooks and the Internet, it may be the simple explanation for the presence of these devices in the image. it still does not make sense to display it on a Chrome OS OOBE Home screen. Well, only unless you plan to transfer Chrome OS to these devices. Android phones and folding features are not currently available with Chrome OS, but the new setup process seems to suggest that the company’s efforts may one day go beyond clamshells and tablet-style Chromebooks.
Since Google’s mysterious Fuchsia OS recently proposed a way to use Android applications and Linux software, and since it’s essentially an operating system meant to adapt to any screen, it makes sense to me that it can be plausible. So far we have not seen any clear evidence that Chrome OS connects at all with other hardware, but we have seen how Fuchsia runs on the 2017 Pixelbook.
Maybe the image just shows someone irresponsibly holding a Chromebook with one hand, another holding it in the tablet configuration from the side, and another using it as a clamshell. I do not know, maybe I’m crazy, but we really do not see Chromebooks appearing in vector images in any way other than what they clearly and deliberately clamshell form. We know that Google is trying to expand its marketing and encourage users to use it in new ways, so it can be just as simple.
Either way, according to the version number at the top right of the picture, the new experience is currently being released with Chrome OS 90, but we’ll have to wait and see. If it is indeed released soon, there is no way it can include folders and phones, but there are still things that do not pick up. Again, this is all just a bit of a nice speculation, but the thought that Google will one day replace Android with Chrome OS on Pixel phones still makes me so excited.
The new OOBE start screen is tested with different resolutions:
Portrait:
1200 × 800
1333 × 888Landscape:
600 × 900
675 × 1080
800 x 1200
888 x 1333
If we get our hands on one of the sub-screens for the setup experience, we’ll be sure to update this post. What do you think? Want to see Google Chrome OS, Android, Wear OS, etc. replaced by Fuchsia – one universal zirconium-based operating system? Do you think the image simply shows people holding Chromebooks in different ways, or is it possible that the words ‘Chrome device’ may indicate something bigger with them? Let’s discuss it in the comments section!
