ChromeOS launch (2011)
Google announced ChromeOS at I/O 2011 and shipped the first Chromebooks with Samsung and Acer that June. The bet was that the browser is the operating system. Reviewers found the web-only model too limiting outside of email and documents.
Sales were slow. The first Samsung Chromebook listed for $499 and struggled against Windows laptops.
Chromebooks found a market in US K-12 schools, capturing roughly 60% of US classroom devices by 2019. They never broke through in business or general consumer use.
Aluminium OS is Google's third try at a non-Windows laptop platform. The merge with Android is an admission that ChromeOS alone never escaped education.
