An "Alt OS" reference was spotted in a recent commit

Apr 19, 2018 16:18 GMT  ·  By

It appears that Google might be working on implementing dual boot support for its Linux-powered Chrome OS operating system for Chromebook computers to let users boot other OSes.

According to a Reddit thread, someone discovered an "Alt OS" references in a recent Chromium Gerrit commit, which could suggest Google might implement some sort of dual boot functionality in the Linux-based Chrome OS operating system for Chromebooks to allow users to install and boot multiple operating systems.

The commit mentions the fact that it adds AltOS NVRAM flags to Chrome OS to enable or disable the "_alt_os_request" flag for an AltOS boot flow. Digging deeper into the said commit, it appears that there's a reference about "go/vboot-windows," which could suggest it might be possible to install Windows alongside Chrome OS.

Chromebooks could finally support native dual boot

The user who started the Reddit thread also notes the fact that there are several other Chromium Gerrit commits where the Alt OS reference pops up, including one called "Message string for AltOS picker screen," which makes us believe Chromebooks will get some sort of boot screen to let users choose their favorite OS.

Of course, these are only speculations at the moment and only time will tell. Google is yet to confirm that it's working on native dual boot support for Chrome OS on Chromebooks, finally allowing users to install other operating systems besides Chrome OS, though it might ruin the whole idea of a Chromebook, or make them more versatile?

But maybe Google is trying to make it easier for its developers to try the upcoming Fuschia operating system, for which the search giant recently published some initial documentation where it states that Fuschia is not Linux, like Chrome OS. Either way, we welcome that idea of Chromebooks supporting dual boot.