Google this week is holding their big I/O conference. Much like Microsoft's Build Google uses the event to talk about the future of its various – and increasingly divergent – product lines (See Google I/O 2016 Day 2: Everything you need to know). Perhaps the biggest announcement that may affect Microsoft is the impending ability for users to run Android apps on Chrome OS. Considering there are over a million Android apps available that is a huge windfall for a cloud OS like Chrome, which up until now didn't have any apps. We have talked about convergence before in computing and Google is approaching it from the other end when compared to Microsoft. So, does Microsoft now have something to be worried about? Yes, the do. Best VPN providers 2020: Learn about ExpressVPN, NordVPN & more The rise of Chrome OS…in schools Tech enthusiasts and consumers have mostly ignored Google's Chrome OS, but that is slowly changing. More importantly, the biggest area in which Google is having success with Chrome OS is with schools. The reason for the rise is precisely because the OS cannot install apps and IT departments can lockdown and secure Chromebooks with ease, especially compared to Windows. Sure, Windows can do – way more – but Chromebooks offers school districts a cheap and efficient way to meet basic computing needs on a budget. In the US, where school districts are already under tremendous pressure from an electorate uninterested in infrastructure, Chrome OS is hard to shrug off. To put all of this in perspective, more Chromebooks were sold in the first quarter of 2016 than all of Apple's OS X, at least according to IDC. A firm number would be close to 2 million units sold. That's the first time such a feat has happened and ignoring Chrome OS is no longer feasible. Chromebooks outsold Macs last quarter for the first time The longer term story is more dangerous for Microsoft. By reaching so many children early on with Chrome OS and hooking them on Google's services, or at least familiarizing them with the tech, Google is slowly cornering a new generation of converts. A lot of people use Windows today because it is what they always used. More often than not your first computer was a Windows device, but now that is changing with declining PC sales and the slow rise of Chromebooks. And let's face it, Microsoft has lost the youth market for smartphones, which is the one area in computing that is doing well these days. Android apps on Chrome OS Google announced that later in 2016 people will be able to run full Android apps on their Chromebooks (specifically, these). It will all be done through the addition of the Google Play Store to those devices, although schools can opt-out by not letting that happen keeping that market safe for now. Ars Technica does a very good job of explaining how Google achieved this feat and it's worth a read.

The main takeaway is that developers will not have to do much to get their apps onto Chrome OS. Those apps run through containers and offer split-view and floating window app sizes instead of any awkward stretching. More tools for developers will be arriving with Android N this summer. Considering there are 1.5 million Android apps now available including a vast array of popular games like Clash of Clans and Google has pulled off a novel trick without any severe shakeup for developers. The "It's not a laptop" laptop problem While all of this Android and Chrome OS stuff is impressive, there are still some perception issues that Google faces. Ironically, Google has the same problem that Microsoft has with Continuum, but from the other end. For example, the beautiful new $600 HP Chromebook 13 looks like a full PC, feels like a full PC, but it's not a real PC. Just like how Microsoft's Continuum looks like full Windows 10, but it cannot run "classic" Win32 applications either. (However, virtualization may be the solution for both platforms.)