Google rolling out Chrome OS 64 with browser enhancements, a new screenshot shortcut, and ability to enable VPN for Play apps
Following updates to Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux last week, version 64 is now rolling out to Chrome OS. In addition to several browser enhacements …
Context & Ripple Effects
Chrome OS 64 lands a week after Google shipped Chrome 64 across desktop platforms, where the same version number strengthened the pop-up blocker against sites with abusive experiences and added per-site audio controls. The Chrome OS build carries those browser changes over and pairs them with two device-level additions: a dedicated screenshot shortcut and the ability to route Android Play apps through a VPN.
The release also matters because it arrives with a patch for the CopyFail Linux vulnerability that let unprivileged users gain root access — significant given that Linux support becomes a headline feature of Chrome OS 69 later in the year, and Progressive Web App support follows in Chrome OS 67. Version 64 is an early data point in Chrome OS absorbing both Android app infrastructure and desktop-grade security hygiene.
First-order effects
- Chromebook users immediately get one-key screenshots and can put Play Store apps behind a VPN, closing a gap where Android apps on Chrome OS bypassed network protections available to browser traffic.
- Administrators deploying Chromebooks get the CopyFail root-access fix in the same rollout, removing a known local privilege-escalation path on devices running Linux.
Second-order effects
- With Play apps now VPN-capable, Chromebooks become more defensible as managed enterprise endpoints, pressuring Windows' hold on high-availability business deployments where security is non-negotiable.
- Bringing Android apps into the same security perimeter as the browser sets up the platform moves Google ships next — PWAs in tablet mode on Chrome OS 67 and full Linux app support on Chrome OS 69.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, Chrome OS stops being a browser shell and consolidates into a single converged client that runs web, Android, and Linux apps under one update and security cadence — forcing Microsoft to keep justifying Windows' heavier footprint for the same workloads.
The trend: Through 2018's rapid Chrome OS release cadence, Google is folding Android and Linux capabilities into Chrome OS until the three runtimes converge into one managed platform.