CloudReady turns your old (or new) computer into a Chromebook

How many of you have old computers laying around the house? I am sure plenty of us do, so it’s time to bring them back to life with CloudReady. But what is CloudReady?

CloudReady is an operating system that is based on Chrome OS. But it has the added benefit that it can run on a plethora of older (and new) computers, essentially turning them into Chromebooks. It is built mainly for schools to be able to re-purpose old computers and avoid sluggish machines while saving money.

This makes total sense, but schools still have to pay a bit for this service. Lucky for you, there is also a free version for the home. The only downside is that the free version comes with no support and no Google Management console enrollment. Education fees are set at $59 per machine, which sure beats buying a whole new computer for students.

There is another downside… kind of. It is still a cloud-based OS, and therefore, has its limitation. This is why CloudReady has also made a dual-boot option available. This means you could run both Windows (or Mac OS X) and Chrome OS at the same time. All you would have to do is choose which operating system you want to launch from, during boot.

Want to give it a go? You can go ahead and check which machines the software is compatible with. Some are not certified for the dual-boot option, but most are. If yours is in the list, just have at it and download the software. You will get a set of instructions too. The process is really simple, so you should be fine getting everything running.

Once ready, just hit the CloudReady website and download your free software. There is an option to go with the education-focused service as well, if you need that. Who is signing up? I am downloading as we speak.