If there’s one thing that you can never predict, it’s the relationship between Google and Microsoft. Both companies just don’t know what the other one thinks, though, granted, this is a lot more from Google, than Microsoft. Whilst Microsoft still has a stronghold in the desktop market with Windows, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that Google’s, early dismissed, Chrome OS line is making a very big impact.

Microsoft have made numerous attempts to distract from the Chromebook line, with the introduction of Windows 10 S, now (S-mode), a free version of Windows 10 to inspire lower cost options that uses the Windows Store, and, most recently, the Surface Go, a lower cost Surface option starting at less than £400. Despite their efforts, Chromebooks, at least in the US, are a vastly increasing market, but as much as Google would like to say otherwise, they really are just the Chrome browser wrapped around a basic Linux desktop, and outside of that, are very limited devices, even with the advent of the clunky Android additions.

Campfire

This has led to something rather surprising from Google, but, when you think about it, something that makes complete sense. Google are expected to soon debut a new feature for Chromebooks called Campfire. The best way to describe Campfire in a sentence, it’s Apple’s Boot Camp for Chrome OS. Apple introduced Boot Camp at the later stages of Mac OS X Tiger (for Intel), and was launched officially in the Mac OS X Leopard release. Whilst Boot Camp has become far less of an important addition to the Mac, not just due to virtual machines improving, it’s a convenience which is there and will now be there for Chromebooks.

However, we highly doubt that Google, even could if they wanted to, would bring Campfire to the lower tier Chrome OS devices, it just wouldn’t work well, and the experience would be incredible limited. This is hinted in the fact that Campfire will require at least 30GB of available storage to even start, an amount of storage that some Chromebooks in the past haven’t come with in their entirety.

It’s unknown whether Campfire will be limited to just Windows 10, or all versions of Windows compatible, maybe even Linux too, or whether, like Boot Camp, with a little trickery, you could realistically install anything that recognises the hardware. We’ll have to see, but it’s sure interesting, and we’re sure Google isn’t too happy they’re having to rely on Microsoft for Chromebooks to work for some.