Google has quietly bought Neverware, a company that created a variant of Chrome OS called CloudReady, which turns old Windows PCs into Chrome OS machines.
CloudReady could be the perfect answer for those who stick with, say, Windows 7 PCs – despite Microsoft having stopped providing free patches since January 15th. Importantly, CloudReady is still getting patches and fixes, as does Chrome OS, which are served every six weeks.
ZDNet’s Steven J Vaughan-Nichols recently explained how to use CloudReady to replace Windows 7. As he points out, it could suit the average user who doesn’t want to venture into Linux.
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CloudReady is typically offered to schools to give new life to old PCs with G Suite for Education. The devices are managed through the Google Admin Console. But companies and private individuals can also use it. Old Macs can also run CloudReady.
The Home edition is free, doesn’t integrate with Google Admin Console, and lacks technical support. The education plan costs $ 20 per year per device with one year of technical support, while the enterprise option costs $ 49 per year per device. The paid options include one year of technical support.
Neverware and CloudReady are joining Google and the Chrome OS team, Neverware said in a statement.
There are no changes to Neverware’s existing pricing.
“With CloudReady becoming an official Chrome OS offering, you can expect release mechanisms to be consistent with official Chrome OS releases,” notes Neverware.
Neverware was founded in 2011 and launched CloudReady in 2015. Google invested in a Series B round in 2017. The company says it has 1.37 million installations.
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There are two notable catches when switching to CloudReady. After installation, there is no return to Windows, so users should back up their files.
After the transition, it also becomes difficult to access a local drive, as this Chrome OS variant relies almost entirely on Google Drive for storage.