ChromeOS makes OS updates seamless and completely transparent to the users. There are no Patch-Tuesdays in ChromeOS world and certainly no service-packs either. However, if you have more than a few 100 Chromebooks in your network, understanding what releases are rolling out, and when is important. This can become very handy when you troubleshoot user-issues. Chrome on all platforms Most organizations which have ChromeOS devices, tend to also have other devices running Chrome. This could be a Windows device, a Macbook, an Android phone or even an iPhone. When users report issues with a website ..read more

Chrome M107 is already rolling out. ChromeOS is listed as rolled out, but so far none of the devices yet have M107. This is normal and I expect the OS rollout to start over the next few days. Mac and Windows however are at 10% rollout already. This means that one in every 10 update request will get the update. This slow rollout is intentional with the goal of making sure there are no new issues introduced with these releases. M107 comes with a lot of new features which can be read in great detail in this PDF file here. Most interesting M107 changes Support for Encrypted Client hello (ECH ..read more

Most of you would already know that Google supports Chromebooks with 7 to 8 years with OS updates. This is one of the sites which can be used to quickly find Chromebook AUE dates for your devices. If your organization is buying a lot of Chromebooks, you may need to think ahead about how to keep repair costs down to make the initial investment worthwhile in the long run. Repairing Chromebooks at scaleOptimizations When you attempt to repair a Chromebook you are essentially paying for 3 things and there are ways to save a bundle on all of them Parts Ordering parts from the OEM may be cheaper tha ..read more

Google today announced that just like its certification for Professional Workspace admin its now launching a certification for ChromeOS Administrators which would be specifically designed for ChromeOS experts to demonstrate that they can do all of the critical tasks needed to manage a ChromeOS fleet at scale. Designed for enterprise and education systems administrators, and junior engineers with at least one year of holistic IT infrastructure experience, the three-hour exam has 50 multiple choice questions and 30 hands-on lab questions. Test-takers have 90 minutes to complete each section. Th ..read more

If you follow this blog, you already know that ChromeOS updates roll out every 4 weeks. You should also know that there are 6 different channels available and as a ChromeOS admin there may be a need for you to use more than one channels in your organization. While all channels officially progress every four weeks, they all have varying update frequency. For example the Extended release channel on ChromeOS is expected to last 6 months and they will only be updated if a serious security issue is identified. On the other end of the spectrum we have the Canary channel which is updated almost every ..read more

Chrome has revolutionized how security and feature updates are pushed to users. Up until Chrome M94 release, Chrome used to update the binaries every 6 weeks, but since then they have moved to updating the browser every 4 weeks instead. This allows Google to push out security and feature updates much more rapidly. For more than a decade, Chrome has shipped a new milestone every 6 weeks, delivering security, stability, speed and simplicity to our users and the web. As we have improved our testing and release processes for Chrome, and deployed bi-weekly security updates to improve our patc ..read more

You may have a hard time finding a non-HTTPS site today, but it was not too long ago when the default was HTTP. Sites like Facebook and Google were available without HTTPS/SSL for anyone in the network path to sniff and inject traffic into (even steal passwords and cookies). ISPs in particular loved to know what you were searching for, and loved even more to inject javascripts to show advertisements onto any page you were browsing. Migration towards HTTPS had started a while back and it had a significant impact in reduction of stolen credentials and as a result reduction in online abuse. Unfor ..read more

Last month security researchers from Microsoft reported and worked with Google to fix a memory corruption vulnerability in a ChromeOS component that could be triggered remotely. I would recommend you to read the whole post on Microsoft’s site, but the part which brought a smile to my face from that report is the section where they said… In terms of security, ChromeOS is well hardened;  https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2022/08/19/uncovering-a-chromeos-remote-memory-corruption-vulnerability/ The whole report is a very fascinating read if you are even remotely interested in sec ..read more

Chrome M106 is starting to rollout today. Mac OS is getting M106 at 10% rollout at this moment, which means 1 in every 10 update requests from the AutoUpdate engine would get a M106 update payload. While I don’t see ChromeOS move to M106 yet, we should see it soon. Its typical for ChromeOS to be a few days behind Mac/Windows rollout which moves much faster. Chrome M106 comes with a big list of improvements which is clearly documented in this Chrome M106 release PDF file. Most interesting M106 changes Here are the 3 changes which Enterprise Admins would love. I can’t wait to try them out. Chr ..read more

Chromebooks are cheap enough that its typically not shared by multiple users. At my home, we have a few shared Chromebooks which are used by kids and as a policy I’ve created an account for everyone of them on every device. Chromebook’s shareable capabilities are often overlooked and this post will help you understand your options if you want to setup Chromebooks for sharing. To begin with make sure you have a way to manage your Chromebooks. This will allow you to push policies onto the devices will make rest of what I’m going to say below possible. Here are a few tips to help figure out how t ..read more