Google is bringing Android to PCs with Aluminium

Google would not precisely have a status for secrecy anymore, not less than on the extent of corporations like Apple. It is revealing minor options and merchandise continually, and has all however given up on protecting new Pixel devices below wraps, to the purpose that it does teaser bulletins forward of its press occasions to maintain the rumor mill below management. If you are going to get enthusiastic about Google tech, it is most likely since you’re already onboard with what’s occurring.

There are exceptions to this, as you may think for a enterprise with billions of {dollars} at stake. One of many greatest is its plans to unify Android and ChromeOS, creating a brand new working system for PCs — doubtlessly difficult Home windows and macOS, or not less than Apple’s iPad. I went looking the web for what we all know in regards to the new OS, together with how excessive Google’s goals are, and what would possibly occur to Chromebooks as soon as it launches.

The story of Aluminium OS thus far

Breaking out of the ChromeOS area of interest

It is no shock, maybe, that Google has misplaced curiosity in ChromeOS. Whereas Chromebooks proceed to have a spot in faculties and companies, they’ve by no means actually expanded far past that, regardless of being cheaper than Home windows laptops. The issue is twofold — ChromeOS gadgets are sometimes ineffective once they’re offline, and the platform has at all times been area of interest, unable to compete with the flexibleness and assist of its rivals. It was a giant deal when Google first gave it the power to run Android apps.

Early rumors that Google wished to mix Android and ChromeOS first emerged a few yr in the past. The corporate lastly confirmed these plans in July 2025, disclosing them to TechRadar. It made a proper announcement at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit in September, revealing that it was cooperating with Qualcomm on a platform that splices cell and desktop computing, with Google’s standard deal with AI. Google’s Senior VP of Units and Companies, Rick Osterloh, made the PC connection express, saying that the 2 corporations have been “constructing collectively a standard technical basis for our merchandise on PCs and desktop computing programs.”

The codename “Aluminium” lately appeared in a (since-pulled) job itemizing uncovered by Android Authority, with Google trying to rent a “Senior Product Supervisor, Android, Laptop computer and Tablets.” The selection of the British spelling of aluminum may appear unusual for an American firm — but it surely’s possible a reference to Chromium, the open-source venture that serves as the muse for each ChromeOS and the Chrome browser. The itemizing generally shortens Aluminium to “ALOS.”

The job requires managing a group of ChromeOS and ALOS gadgets in a number of type components — “laptops, detachables, tablets, and packing containers” — in addition to a number of tiers, “Chromebook, Chromebook Plus, AL Entry, AL Mass Premium, and AL Premium.” Collectively, these statements recommend that Google needs to maneuver past the funds laptop computer realm most Chromebooks have been relegated to. There are higher-end Chromebooks, however these are uncommon, and have by no means gained a lot traction.

Not a lot else is thought for positive, however the job itemizing did speak about transitioning “from ChromeOS to Aluminium with enterprise continuity sooner or later,” suggesting that Google needs to section out ChromeOS, however proceed supporting enterprise prospects that may’t afford to change dozens, lots of, and even hundreds of gadgets.

What does this imply for Chromebooks?

Not essentially the tip of the highway

A variety of unknowns stay, together with what Aluminium’s ultimate title will likely be. The corporate is unlikely to stay with that codename in a ultimate product, and Android Authority claims that Google engineers are actually referring to the previous software program as “ChromeOS Basic” or “non-Aluminium ChromeOS,” which may imply that the ChromeOS branding will survive — simply with very totally different performance. One other risk is that Aluminium will grow to be “Android Desktop,” however that could be but extra shorthand, and would isk confusion with Android 16’s Desktop Mode.

No matter it is referred to as, there’s an opportunity that some current Chromebooks would possibly have the ability to improve, as Aluminium is reportedly being examined on modest MediaTek Kompanio 520 and Twelfth-gen Intel Alder Lake processors. They’d additionally want to fulfill RAM and storage necessities, nevertheless.

The best barrier may very well be AI. Google has acknowledged that Gemini will likely be integral to Aluminium, which older processors may not have the ability to deal with effectively or with full performance. Many cell and desktop processors now have structure particularly designed to speed up AI. I ought to say that Google has been in a position to deliver a restricted type of the tech to older gadgets like Nest audio system and smart displays, so compatibility may in the end rely upon how superior the tech’s new incarnation is meant to be. Merely speaking to Gemini Reside or accessing net content material could be trivial — however on-device processing primarily based on native recordsdata and graphics rendering would possibly bathroom down machines that weren’t constructed to do way more than run net apps.

Can Google problem Home windows and Mac?

The true goal could also be iPadOS

One other main query is how critical Google is about competing within the PC area. Android is already extra in style and widespread than ChromeOS, however the firm faces an uphill battle to persuade those who the platform can ship the identical performance as a Mac or Home windows PC. Certainly Google has struggled to get builders to supply primary pill variations of Android apps, a lot much less software program that may compete with Home windows apps primarily based on high-end CPUs and GPUs. Somebody choosing up an Android PC could be disillusioned if they can not run the newest Name of Obligation or probably the most superior model of Adobe Photoshop.

One Android Authority supply claims that Google’s actual objective is to compete with the iPad. That product continues to manage over 50% of the pill market, in response to Statcounter, and in recent times, Apple has lastly begun warming as much as the concept that it wants to supply laptop-like capabilities. The iPad Air and Professional now use the identical M-series chips present in MacBooks. iPadOS 26, in the meantime, sports activities Mac-like multitasking, together with the power to open extra home windows and place them wherever.

Maybe extra crucially, there are sufficient high-quality iPadOS apps that iPads are a staple of many colleges and companies, the market that Chromebooks have historically finished finest in. If Google can spawn a platform that matches iPads in performance whereas undercutting Apple on worth, it could actually make critical inroads that may ultimately end result within the breakout the corporate has at all times wished.

When is Aluminium OS going to launch?

Do not maintain your breath

Google’s official window for the product is someday in 2026. That would, hypothetically, imply an announcement as quickly as January, however given the importance of bringing Android to PCs, the information will most likely arrive alongside one of many firm’s greater press occasions. One risk is its I/O developer convention in Could, which at all times begins with a prolonged keynote hosted by Google executives. If Google skips that milestone, it may find yourself ready till late summer time or fall, when it makes a giant splash with new Pixel gadgets.

A digital certainty is that the software program will ship in sync with Android 17, which needs to be in beta by Could and completed by the autumn. In that case, the primary Android PCs may hit cabinets in time for the 2026 vacation season, assuming there are no delays. There’s additionally the possibility that Google will merely reveal its plans subsequent yr, leaving {hardware} releases for 2027.