Chrome OS Getting Touch-Friendly Redesign

Now that Android apps are coming to Chrome OS in full force, there's no reason not to get a touch-enabled Chromebook. And since you'll be using touch so much, it's about time Google redesigned its operating system for it. In a video first posted to Google Plus by user Francois Beaufort and published by Engadget, you can see a newly redesigned launcher.

The new launcher keeps a couple of suggested apps and a search bar on the bottom of the screen in a dock, and you can swipe up to reveal a full app drawer. The search bar and Google voice search appear to be straight out of what you'd usually expect on Android.

The updated launcher is currently part of Chrome Canary, an experimental release that often shows off pre-beta features, and, therefore, is very, very buggy. If you're looking for that build, you can find it here, but you probably shouldn't put it on a Chromebook that you use every day.

Chrome OS's regular taskbar hasn't gone away in this build, so mouse and keyboard support aren't likely to change anytime soon. But Chrome OS was never developed for touch, so any changes it makes to better support it are very welcome.

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