Going forward, a Chromebook might be the only computing device you’ll ever need. Well, maybe with a mid-range smartphone. Google recently added official and fast Android app support to at least three Chromebooks and, unsurprisingly, some people are taking this to the extreme. Take for example the folks at CrossWeaver, the developers of the CrossOver software, who just successfully launched a game from a Windows version of Steam running through the Android version of CrossOver running on Chrome OS on a Chromebook. Yes, OS-ception at its best.
Of course, it’s not really magic, but the product of several layers of software that actually make software from different operating systems run on another operating system to some extent. For example, CrossOver is based on WINE (“Windows is not an emulator”), an open source project that allows certain Windows applications to run on Unix-based operating systems like Linux, BSD, and macOS. But while WINE is a more generic compatibility layer, CrossOver focuses on certain classes of software, especially Microsoft Office and Windows games.
The other part of the equation is probably one that many Chromebook users are already familiar with. Google has announced that it is fully integrating Android apps with Chromebooks and has already started this rollout with ASUS Chromebook Flip, Acer Chromebook R11, and Google Chromebook Pixel (2015). Luckily, CrossWeaver is developing a version of CrossOver to run on Android. Combine it all and all hell breaks loose.
It is therefore a Windows Steam game running through an Android application running on Chrome OS. Of course, this is not a perfect situation yet, as there are still compatibility issues with CrossOver / WINE. Not all Windows software works at all, and the ones that do don’t always perform at their best. And it really only works with Intel Chromebooks. Still, it presents exciting opportunities for the future when these coins evolve even further.
THE SOURCE: Crossweaver
