14 DAY TRIAL // Chromium evangelist at Google François Beaufort has shared details today about a brand new interface of the Chrome web browser in Google's Chrome OS operating system for Chromebook devices.
It appears that Google's Chrome OS design team has been working lately to completely revamp Chrome's user interface by changing almost everything, including the typography, icons, colors, shapes, heights, and even the Omnibox dropdown. However, the new look it's only available for touch and convertible devices for now.
"Chrome OS features a brand new interface for touch and convertibles devices in Canary channel for my viewing pleasure and I love it," said François Beaufort in a Google+ post. "Almost everything has changed: icons, spacings, heights, colors, omnibox dropdown, shapes (circular corners), and typography."
According to the Chromium Gerrit commit, Chrome OS will use the TouchOptimizedUi element by default on touch devices, adding the --enable_features=TouchOptimizedUi parameter, which modifies the return value of the ui::MaterialDesignController::DefaultMode() function only when a touch device is detected.
Here's how to try the new Chrome OS interface on your Chromebook
If you have a touch or convertible Chromebook and you want to try the brand new interface of Chrome OS right now, you'll have to switch to the Chrome Canary experimental channel. But first, please try to keep in mind that Canary is an alpha, developer-oriented version of Chrome that might be quite buggy.
So, to switch to the Chrome Canary channel, you must first enable Developer Mode on your Chromebook. After the mandatory reboot, open the crosh shell by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T, run the "live_in_a_coal_mine" command, and press "y" when asked followed by Enter.
Now you can go to Settings -> About Chrome and check for updates. The latest Chrome OS development version will be downloaded on your Chromebook, along with the brand new interface if you have a touch device. Once again, always remember that Chrome Canary is not for the faint of heart.
