As already written last week, in the Chrome 32 version, there is the new version of Chrome for Windows 8 that works in full screen and which, in fact, replicates the interface and functions of Chrome OS, the operating system that comes installed on Google Chromebook laptops. Since Chromebooks are not yet sold in Italy (unfortunately since they are cheap and excellent computers), it is useful and important to note how you can really now take advantage of the Google Chrome app launcher as if you had installed Chrome OS on your computer, completely replacing the Windows desktop.
The trick is based on the new version of Chrome and on Windows 8 where you can start Google Chrome in full screen, even in locked mode.
NOTE: This mode of opening Chrome as an app on Windows 8 does not work in Windows 10.
The applications of the Windows 8 start screen have the particularity of being open to full screen, like the apps of tablets and smartphones.
Chrome in Windows 8 mode then opens in full screen mode and is all focused on the applications of the platform, of the Chrome Web Store .
Prior to Chrome 32, the Chrome interface in Windows 8 mode was simply a full screen version of the Chrome browser window.
Now, however, Google has improved this full-screen mode with the Chrome OS style, making the browser a complete dashboard with a bar from which to start applications and with integrated Chrome notifications.
Unfortunately for Microsoft, Google has been able to take advantage of the interface of the "Metro" app which gives users of a Windows 8 PC the possibility to use the computer only with Chrome, only to surf the internet and use web applications, as would do if you were just using a Chromebook .
In order for Chrome to work in Windows 8 mode, hardware graphics acceleration must be enabled and Chrome must be set as the default web browser in the settings.
Now click the button at the top right to restart Chrome in Windows 8 mode
The whole screen will now be occupied by the Google Chrome desktop.
To launch applications or open new windows you can use the app launcher in the lower left corner of the screen, the same as the Chrome app launcher that can be enabled on the Windows desktop.
One of the advantages of the new interface is that you can have multiple Chrome browser windows on the screen at the same time and move these windows independently, as you would with Windows windows.
For each window there will be an icon on the taskbar.
Chrome tabs can be detached and moved like windows by pressing one of the buttons at the top right of the main window.
The Windows 8 version of Chrome is lighter than the normal browser and has more limited support for plugins.
Adobe Flash works the same as the Chrome PDF viewer but Java or Microsoft Silverlight cannot be used.
Chrome Windows 8 also does not interact with desktop applications and Windows folders so when you save a photo the app will open and not the classic explorer.
You can leave the app as you would any other Windows 8 app (see how to close applications on Windows 8 here).
You can see how Google Chrome is not integrated with the right charms bar so the settings do not concern Chrome and you cannot use the sharing buttons.
Google clearly wants to pretend that the Windows 8 interface doesn't exist.
To return to Chrome normal desktop version just press the menu button again and restart Chrome desktop
Note that thanks to the assigned access function you can start Windows 8 stuck on a program and, therefore, blocking it on Chrome.
With this possibility you can really transform any PC into a Chromebook, creating a special user of the computer that only opens Chrome in the Windows 8 version, without being able to do anything else, but with the arrangement of the various Chrome applications that also work offline.
READ ALSO: Top 15 Chrome apps that also work offline .
In the end, this interface really becomes an alternative in the use of the computer, for those who want it lighter and faster, for those who use touchscreen monitors and for those who want to hide Windows 8, giving up classic programs and basing all the work on the cloud and on web applications.
