The convergence of mobile and desktop operating systems is a goal that has remained elusive for big tech firms since the early days of the smartphone. Microsoft’s attempt in the form of Windows Mobile was reaching the end of its road by 2010, and despite Apple’s iOS/iPadOS and macOS moving very slowly towards one another for the last few years, Cupertino has not yet reached the fabled goal of the-one-OS-to-rule-them-all.
But Google’s big play to merge ChromeOS and Android into a unified PC platform (with the anglicised codename Aluminium OS) is gradually taking shape. Android-powered laptops are planned for released in 2026, and the company wants to put its LLMs at the centre of the user experience.
Hardware procurement decisions may be in step with company AI strategy in the enterprise, therefore, in the coming year. The prospect of chromebook-style devices and an accompanying lower price tag will be attractive both to organisations considering their next round of machine refreshes, and strategists who want to put AI at the heart of their employees’ daily work could. Soon, they might have a solution in common.
It’s early days in the development of the converged device at Google, but the company is well known for both floating ideas that don’t get far and abandoning technologies it can’t monetise effectively enough. Unlike some of the company’s projects that may stem from its ‘20%’ policy (employees at Google are encouraged to dedicate 20% of their time to moonshot projects), the substantial Android development community and Google’s policy of putting Gemini front-and-centre may be the accelerant the new, converged operating system needs.
Android’s existing AI capabilities like the Magic Editor for photos, audio transcription and summarisation would port very well to the workplace desktop. However, if Google wants to assuage the fears of security professionals, it may have to rely on local, small models for AI processing, rather than reaching out to cloud instances of Gemini for the required compute power. That puts into question the continuation of one of the chromebook range’s big selling points – its low price compared to fully-fledged workstations.
There’s also a delicate balance the company needs to strike. Forcing users into an AI-centric workflow hasn’t played well for Microsoft: note the furore around Recall and the muted response to its much-reduced offspring that has sprung out of Copilot Labs. What Google needs is a killer AI feature that benefits the enterprise, and that may or may not be something that’s aimed at users.
It’s undeniable that the addition of Gemini to Google Workspace has done wonders for the platform in terms of its competitiveness with Office 365 – despite a significant price hike earlier this year – driven in some part by new features like live translation in Google Meet and AI responses available in Gmail. Users do find some AI tools useful, but it may be becoming apparent that user-facing AI is a useful addition to existing workflows, rather than a catalyst that changes everything.
If placing Gemini or Gemini Nano at the heart of the new operating system, therefore, it may be that Google is looking to offer value to different parts of the enterprise from the daily tasks users tackle. Android Authority suggests smart power management, device provisioning, and contextual awareness in accessing enterprise resources may be on the table. It’s difficult to see how these elements would be a game-changer for procurement teams, however.
Google has many problems to solve at a deeper level, like compatibility with peripherals, OS-level drivers, and the necssary changes to the Android GUI to make it a great experience for end users wielding mouse and keyboard. But given enough effort and investment (something the company does not lack) these are issues that can be surmounted relatively easily. A thriving app ecosystem will ensure that the necessary tools are if not immediately available, could be made so with minimum effort.
Ultimately, the success of Aluminium OS will depend on Google’s ability to offer a platform that solves tangible problems and integrates into existing workflows. Google sees AI in the form of Gemini (or localised Gemini Nano instance) powering a platform that offers integrated problem-solving. Hitting that target will generate demand, and a lower price per machine could be the decider for procurement teams. If Google gets it right, it could repeat the success it experienced in the education market with the original chromebook project, and there could be a substantial shift by enterprise fleets to Aluminium OS and Google Workspaces.
There are big gains to be made for a company that dominates the mobile market worldwide and makes serious inroads into the enterprise workstation market. Plus, that elusive device convergence would be much closer to becoming a reality.
(Image source: “Macro Monday : Aluminium buttons (Al on the periodic table)” by cchana is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.)
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