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Aftermarket Operating Systems

Although ChromeOS Devices are built and optimized around ChromeOS, under the hood, they are technically still relatively standard Laptop and Desktop Computers. This does mean that you could replace ChromeOS with another operating system if your device is no longer supported by ChromeOS or if your needs change. 

Hardware Compatibility Limitations

It is important to note that ChromeOS Devices are released with a large verity of hardware options, and these options may limit what third-party operating systems are supported on your device. It is strongly advised to consult our ChromeOS Device Database if you are unsure about the hardware specifications of your device, please pay special attention to the CPU Architecture, storage and RAM as these are what will dictate the operating systems that you can load on your ChromeOS Device. 

  • CPU/CPU Architecture - Many Operating Systems are built against a specific CPU architecture and generation of CPU. This means it is not possible to run an operating system such as Windows 10 built for a x86_64 processor on a 2012 Samsung Chromebook running an ARM based Exynos 5 Dual 5250 processor. 

  • Storage Limitations - Many ChromeOS devices built before 2021 tend to have a limited amount of built-in storage, some older ChromeOS devices have as little as 8 GB of built-in storage, which will limit users to lightweight operating systems that may have some features stripped out. There are, however, several fully featured GNU/Linux Distributions that are designed to run on systems with limited storage options.

  • RAM Limitations - All ChromeOS devices ship with a minimum of 2 GB of RAM, which could be problematic for several aftermarket Operating Systems. Fortunately, over the past several years, it has been standard for entry-level ChromeOS devices to ship with 4 GB of RAM as a base and many are shipping with 8 GB of RAM. You can even find ChromeOS devices with as much as 64 GB of RAM.

Aftermarket Operating System Options