It’s also still just a dumb grid of icons. Chrome OS’s version of the Start menu finally moves from an unwieldy full-screen experience back to a window or pane, and it’s very much like the Windows 11 Start menu in that it has rounded corners and is floating, but it’s over on the left as in Windows 10. That’s too bad, and the new look is very nice. But many elements, like windows still have squared off edges. Speaking of inconsistent, those UI elements that are impacted by the new themes now feature rounded corners like we see in Windows 11. Also, a new Wallpaper & style app helps you switch between the Light and Dark themes and customize your wallpaper. So it’s a bit like how this works in Windows 10/11, meaning it’s inconsistent but better than nothing. Unfortunately, Google hasn’t killed off the glaring and stark white look that dominated Chrome OS before instead, many windows are still white in Light mode. This works exactly as expected, in that it can be toggled between the two modes as needed and can work automatically on a schedule. (And makes Chrome OS look more like it originally did, a sort of Windows 7 clone, albeit with more modern visuals now.)Īnyway, based on what I see, what the Explore app does explain, and a few third-party blog posts, here are what I believe to be the biggest new features in Chrome OS 104.ĭark and light themes. Worse, when you upgrade to Chrome OS 104 on a Chromebook, the Explore app provides a short list of new features, but it doesn’t mention the two biggest changes I can see, support for Dark and Light themes, similar to what we see on macOS and Windows 10/11, and a new windowed Launcher experience that no longer takes up the full screen as before. I wish Google was more upfront about these releases: the only publicly available Google post about Chrome OS 104 doesn’t even mention any new features but instead references a list of bug and security fixes. Among other things, the release adds long-awaited Dark theme support. Google this week began rolling out Chrome OS 104 to the stable channel.

Os chrome