How Chrome OS Flex can turn an old MacBook into an iCloud laptop

Google has a surprisingly great solution for old Macs.

- MICHAEL SIMON

Most Mac users wouldn't dream of replacing macOS with anything but the latest update, but Google wants you to at least consider another option: Chrome OS.

Google describes its new Chrome OS Flex as a "free and sustainable way” to install Google's online OS on any Mac or PC. The target audience is cash-strapped schools and businesses looking for “modern computing with cloud-based management," but it's pretty tempting for regular users too. Chrome OS Flex offers the same breezy interface you would get on a Chromebook (fave.co/3hOYWNC), minus the Android apps, with Google's expansive library of web apps and extensions running the show.

It sounds crazy but it's not. Chrome OS Flex isn't made for the performance of today's Apple silicon Macs. Rather, it's for the thousands of Macs and PCs collecting dust on shelves and tucked away in drawers that haven't been turned on or updated in years. They're slow and clunky and they don't have enough space or memory, but they still have some life left in them. And Google wants to squeeze every last bit out of them.