14 DAY TRIAL // Google has released the Chrome OS 75 operating system for supported Chromebook devices, a major release that adds various new features, latest security patches, and other improvements.
Chrome OS 75 has been promoted to the stable channel as version 75.0.3770.102 (Platform version: 12105.75.0) for most Chromebook devices. This release introduces a new parental control feature that lets parents limit the time to their kids spend on Chrome OS devices, and it also enables kid-friendly Assistant for child accounts.
While still in beta, the support for Linux apps is improving with every release, and Chrome OS 75 introduces support for Linux apps to access Android devices over USB connections. Moreover, the Files app has been enhanced with support for third-party file provider apps, implementing the Android DocumentsProvider APIs.
Intel MDS mitigations are here
On top of the new features and improvements mentioned above, the Chrome OS 75 release also adds support for PIN code authentication with native printers for managed devices. In terms of security changes, Chrome OS 75 brings mitigations for the latest Intel MDS (Microarchitectural Data Sampling) hardware vulnerabilities.
"If Chrome processes are attacked, these sensitive data could include website contents as well as passwords, credit card numbers, or cookies. The vulnerabilities can also be exploited to read host memory from inside a virtual machine, or for an Android App to read privileged process memory (e.g. keymaster)," said Google in a support document.
The Chrome OS 75.0.3770.102 operating system is now rolling out to supported devices and should arrive to all users over the next few days. To update your Chromebook device to Chrome OS 75, open the Settings page and go to About Chrome OS. There, you should be able to see the new Chrome OS version, which will download and install automatically.