The Samsung Chromebook Pro will be turning three next month, and Google may end up commemorating that occasion by finally bringing the Chrome OS laptop into the Project Crostini fold.
Curiously named after an Italian appetizer, Project Crostini revolves around a kernel-based virtual machine called Termina that allows Chrome OS devices to run the Linux terminal and apps, with its creators continuously expanding the list of chipsets and related kernels it supports. With that said, the hope that the Chromebook Pro would ever benefit from the program has long since withered away.
Just in time to ditch the old timer for the Galaxy Chromebook
Cue this week's surprise: the Kerneltext project is bearing fruit, as Project Crostini was found to be working on the Samsung Chromebook Pro running Chrome OS 82 with the experimental VM flag enabled. The only problem is, that version is Dev-Channel-only and has been abandoned due to the ongoing global pandemic. Google's team ultimately skipped ahead to build number 83 after resuming development. The latter lacks the same feature, though the implication remains: Project Crostini appears to be on its way to the Samsung Chromebook Pro after all.
The Samsung Chromebook Plus, released four months prior to the Chromebook Pro, already received Linux support two years ago, not long after Project Crostini itself launched. That's courtesy of the fact it leveraged ARM's Rockchip RK3399 which ended up enjoying much better support than Intel's Core m3-6Y30 from the polarizing Skylake generation. While the better-late-than-never mantra still applies, the impending support for Linux apps will seemingly hit the Chromebook Pro just as the device has to make space the Galaxy Chromebook, the long-awaited sequel to Samsung's original vision of an ultra-premium Chrome OS experience.
