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Chrome OS Stable Update Changes Out Of Box UI

A new update to the stable channel of Chrome OS brings some changes to the way that new devices behave right out of the box, among other changes. Some bug fixes and a single security tweak are on board, as are the ability to customize the URL for the Contact Support option, and improvements to time zone detection and time sync over the internet, especially for devices on cellular connections. Aside from these few minor changes, the update is fairly dry. It is currently rolling out to almost all Chrome OS devices, with only a select few missing the boat.

The update will bring the Chrome OS version up to 58.0.3029.89, and the platform version up to 9334.58.0,9334.58.1. The full list of devices that missed the boat includes the Acer Chromebase 24, AOpen Chromebase Mini and Chromebox Mini, 2015 Chromebook Pixel, ASUS Chromebook Flip C100PA, Dell Chromebook 11 3120, Lenovo ThinkPad 11e Chromebook, Acer Chromebook R11, and the Samsung Chromebook Plus. The list of devices not getting this update ranges wildly between the high and low ends of the Chrome OS spectrum, with even one of Google’s own devices, albeit one from a discontinued lineage, presumably getting a  different update later. Some of the entries in this list are somewhat easy to explain, such as the Samsung Chromebook Plus’ unconventional Rockchip processor.

This update is the latest on the Stable channel for Chrome OS, but users on the Beta, Dev, and Canary paths will likely have already gotten these features and fixes, among others. The last update in the Stable channel before this one came in the form of a trifecta of different updates depending on the system, but all had the same content; for the most part, the update, in the Version 57 branch, was mostly about security fixes, with a few bug fixes coming through, and almost no user-facing changes to the UI or how the OS works. This update comes alongside an update to Chrome that bears a similar version number and automatically moved 32 bit Chrome users on 64 bit versions of Windows over to the 64 bit version of Chrome, though no mention was made of similar action being taken with Linux users.