When Chrome OS first launched, it was slightly larger than a browser, and developers expected people to be able to completely switch to using web apps. It has been about nine years since then, but people still need locally installed software. This is especially true for business customers, and Google is looking to get more companies to use Chromebooks. According to reports, IT administrators will be able to provide Parallels access to users on Chrome OS devices managed through Chrome Enterprise Upgrade.

Google initially thought about giving users the ability to install Windows directly onto their hardware. However, it was decided to abandon this for security reasons. As a result, it was decided to opt for Windows virtualization using Parallel solutions, which will allow Google to prevent any security threats.

Initially, Parallels Desktop will load a complete copy of Windows 10 into Chrome OS. This allows users to interact with applications and documents in the same way they do on Windows computers. Moreover, the function of automatically redirecting Windows files to virtual space will be implemented, which will make the process more smooth. However, Google believes that running a full virtual copy of Windows is not the best solution. Therefore, in the future, developers intend to implement the ability to launch Windows applications directly in Chrome OS.

Windows will probably need a powerful enough Chromebook to run, and many Chrome OS devices don’t have impressive specs. They are fine for launching multiple tabs in Chrome, but Windows virtualization will require more resources. Google is not specifying hardware requirements but confirms that the Parallels solution will target performance Chromebooks. Actually, business Chromebooks have high performance. It is assumed that the ability to run Windows applications by virtualizing the operating system will appear already this year and will become available to corporate customers of Google.