A week with Googlebooks: four notes from our testing so far

Google’s new operating system is off to a rocky start following the debut of five newly launched Googlebook laptops from partner OEMs like Dell, Acer, Asus, Lenovo, and HP. While the hardware on these devices ranges from great to excellent, the software in its current state is proving to be a significant weak point. Four staff members at The Verge have been actively testing the new laptops, and internal discussions have largely consisted of venting frustrations, disappointments, and bewilderment regarding the user experience.

The initial promise of Googlebooks was simple: provide a fresh and smartly designed alternative to Windows or Mac specifically tailored for Android phone owners. However, early testing reveals that there are far more than just a few kinks and quirks to work out. Some of the core issues and challenges in the road ahead appear to be systemic to Android itself, raising questions about whether a mobile-first operating system can successfully scale to a traditional laptop form factor without deeper structural changes.

During a launch preview, a Google representative explained that replacing ChromeOS with Android would allow for much faster development cycles. While this sounds promising on paper, it raises an immediate question: why does the Googlebook OS feel like a step backward compared to mature platforms like ChromeOS? The new laptops share some frustrating legacy flaws, such as the inability to run Chrome with separate Google accounts simultaneously. Furthermore, many Android apps feel just as clunky to run on a Googlebook as they previously did on older ChromeOS hardware.

Google even integrated physical Android navigation buttons directly into the Googlebook keyboard, seemingly as a fallback option to help users navigate misbehaving mobile apps. Daily testing reveals a constant stream of software oddities. For instance, while the Signal messaging app links easily with a smartphone, users are forced to press Ctrl and Enter to send messages, and standard text highlighting is broken because clicking and dragging scrolls the page up and down instead.

Professional applications also suffer from the mobile-first translation. Programs like Photoshop and Lightroom are passable only for the absolute simplest image editing tasks. Most power users would gladly choose an inexpensive Windows laptop running proper desktop applications over these constrained mobile versions. Window management presents another major hurdle, as users cannot drag and drop windows across virtual desktops. Scrolling to the left of active desktops reveals a destructive 'Clear All' button that abruptly shuts down all running applications at once, a design choice borrowed directly from mobile phone interfaces that makes little sense in a desktop environment.

Basic web services are not immune to these launch troubles either. Even installing the progressive web application version of Slack fails to function properly, leaving users confused about whether to blame the app developers or Google. Ultimately, purchasing a Googlebook right now feels less like buying a finished product and more like acting as a paid beta tester for Google's latest software experiment. While early adoption always carries risks, the sheer volume of day-one friction suggests Google has a long road ahead before Googlebooks can truly compete with established desktop operating systems.