Google may add Windows 10 dual-boot option to Chromebooks

Google appears to be working on dual-boot support for Chromebooks. XDA-Developers has discovered that Google has been working to support an “alt OS mode” for its Pixelbook laptop for months now. Dubbed “Campfire,” an obvious nod to Apple’s own Boot Camp feature, Google’s dual-boot is rumored to support Windows 10 on Chromebooks.

XDA-Developers claims Google is attempting to pass Microsoft’s hardware certification for Windows 10 to allow its Pixelbook to officially run the alternative operating system. References to Microsoft’s Windows Hardware Certification Kit have appeared in development builds of Chrome OS, and Google’s Campfire work might extend to other new Chromebooks in the future.

Dual-boot support is said to be arriving on the Pixelbook soon, as Google engineers are pushing through multiple changes for Chrome OS to support the new feature. Installing Windows 10 on a Chromebook will require additional storage, so it’s not likely that devices with 16GB of storage will be able to dual-boot Windows 10. XDA-Developers points to a recent Chromium source code comment that suggests devices will need to have at least 40GB of storage to allow Windows 10 to use 30GB and Chrome OS to utilize 10GB.

It’s not clear when Google plans to release its Campfire support, but the company traditionally holds a hardware event in October. Google’s Pixel 3 smartphone has already started leaking, and it’s possible we might see a new Pixelbook 2 later this year that demonstrates dual-boot support.