The Verge Flags Software Flaws Across 5 New Googlebook Laptops
Updated
Updated · The Verge · Oct 9
The Verge Flags Software Flaws Across 5 New Googlebook Laptops
3 articles · Updated · The Verge · Oct 9
Summary
Four Verge reviewers said a week of testing Googlebooks turned into "collective venting," with the new laptops' software emerging as the main weakness despite generally strong hardware.
Googlebook OS was described as feeling worse than ChromeOS at launch, with buggy app behavior, awkward window management, broken web apps, and basic laptop tasks still feeling like phone-first compromises.
Android app support appears to be a core problem: many apps open in tablet-style full screen, resize poorly, ignore keyboard-and-mouse norms, and leave Googlebook feeling like "an Android tablet pretending to be a laptop."
Linux apps have not solved the gaps, because software installed in the Debian virtual machine stays isolated from the main system, while Googlebook's headline phone integration works only intermittently.
The report deepens concerns raised a day earlier that Google's ChromeOS-to-Android shift shipped before the ecosystem and software experience were ready for a full laptop replacement.