Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Write For Us
    • Newsletter
    • Contact
    Instagram
    About ChromebooksAbout Chromebooks
    • News
      • Stats
    • AI
    • How to
      • DevOps
      • IP Address
    • Apps
    • Business
    • Q&A
      • Opinion
    • Gaming
      • Google Games
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • Contact
    About ChromebooksAbout Chromebooks
    Home - News - Apparently, you can run Windows 10 in a Linux VM on some Chromebooks now
    News

    Apparently, you can run Windows 10 in a Linux VM on some Chromebooks now

    Kevin TofelBy Kevin TofelAugust 3, 2020Updated:May 21, 2025No Comments3 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest

    Over the past few weeks, we’ve heard Google details plans and a partnership with Parallels to bring Windows 10 support to Chromebooks, at least in the enterprise space. So I was a little surprised to see this tweet from Mace Moneta over the weekend, showing that he’s running Windows 10 inside a VM within the Linux container of his Asus Chromebook Flip C436:

    https://twitter.com/MaceMoneta/status/1289370308084813826?s=20

    Well that’s… interesting.

    I knew that the Chromium team was working on nested KVM support for untrusted virtual machines but I didn’t know how far along it was.

    Of course, I tried to get this working on my older Acer Chromebook Spin 13, mainly because with 16 GB of memory, it’s the perfect candidate for testing Windows 10 in this scenario. I first switched to the Chrome OS 85 Beta Channel because that’s where I’ve seen the most recent supporting code changes for this support.

    I mostly came up empty although installing virt-manager and dependencies worked out just fine. And I was able to get the Virtual Machine Manager running within Linux on my Chromebook.

    The first step in creating a new VM is where I hit my first snag though. KVM wasn’t enabled on my Chromebook, as indicated in step 1 of the process.

    I decided to continue anyway, thinking even a slower experience of Windows 10 in a VM is better than none at all. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my Windows 10 .iso file to ever be read, after various configuration changes and the additional of necessary virtual hardware.

    I suspect the key issue on my Chromebook is that KVM is disabled by default, as it has been on every Chromebook, per this Chromium site. Running the kvm-ok command in Linux on my Spin 13 returns this message:

    INFO: Your CPU does not support KVM extensions

    KVM acceleration can NOT be used

    This has to do with the configuration of kernel use and although there are steps on the above site indicating how to re-enable KVM support, it’s not something that most Chromebook owners will be able to do. And it requires a CPU that supports Intel’s VMX extensions.

    Having said that, it appears in code commits that nested KVM and untrusted — read: Non-Google built — VMs will be supported in the future. Which Chromebooks will get the feature is the next question. And it based on the limited information I’ve seen, it may only be newer devices based on chipset and kernel version requirements.

    Regardless, I’ll keep tinkering with this on my Chromebook Spin 13 and some newer Chromebooks that may have a more recent Linux kernel. If I find out more, I’ll be sure to share. And if you’ve been able to get Windows 10 inside a Linux VM on your Chromebook, let us all know what you’re using and how it’s going!

    Chrome OS Chromebooks Crostini KVM Linux Project Crostini Qemu Virtual Machines Windows 10
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr
    Kevin Tofel
    • Website

    After spending 15 years in IT at Fortune 100 companies, Kevin turned a hobby into a career and began covering mobile technology in 2003. He writes daily on the industry and has co-hosted the weekly MobileTechRoundup podcast since 2006. His writing has appeared in print (The New York Times, PC Magazine and PC World) and he has been featured on NBC News in Philadelphia.

    Related Posts

    AI Tools With Shortest User Loyalty In 2025

    August 25, 2025

    Is Janitor AI Down?

    August 21, 2025

    Why Meta Quest 4 Could Be the Next Big Thing in VR?

    August 11, 2025

    Comments are closed.

    Best of AI

    Most Repetitive AI Prompts Ever Entered Into Chatbots (2025)

    August 20, 2025

    Which AI Chatbots Are Most Trusted to Handle Sensitive Data? (2025)

    August 15, 2025

    Most Common AI Tools Used at Work (And What They’re Replacing) 2025

    August 11, 2025

    Which AI Chatbot is Used Most by Students?

    August 7, 2025

    Perplexity Statistics And User Trends [2025 Updated]

    July 29, 2025
    Trending Stats

    Average Chrome Tab Lifespan Statistics (2025)

    September 3, 2025

    Which Chrome Permissions Are Most Frequently Revoked After Being Allowed? (2025)

    September 2, 2025

    Chrome Usage vs. Focus Apps Statistics [2025 Updated]

    August 29, 2025

    How Many Chrome Extensions Does the Average User Have – But Never Use? (2025)

    August 27, 2025

    Chrome Mobile Market Share Statistics (2025 Updated)

    August 23, 2025
    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Write For Us
    • Newsletter
    • Contact
    © 2025 About Chrome Books. All rights reserved.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.