The Chrome OS Dev Channel, essentially the alpha build channel for the platform, has received its third Chrome 69 based build today. Build 69.0.3486.0 (Platform version: 10866.1.0) is the new build for testers in the channel and should be available to most devices already. You can always check for the update by typing chrome://help in the browser bar.
As you would expect with an early build of any platform, this update to the Dev Channel has a slew of fixes to issues that were in the previous builds. An issue with external monitor support has been fixed and Linux app stability & support, known as Project Crostini, has been improved in this update too.
For those that are curious, you can read release notes here that has all the gory details on what has been fixed and improved. That said, the build is no where near ready for prime time and it is not recommended that it be run on your daily driver Chromebook.
As most readers know, Project Crostini is expected to land in the Stable Channel when Chrome 69 is released to it later this year. That means that you will be able to run Linux apps, a real win for those who want to use Chrome OS as a development platform. In support of this, and other changes that will happen with this release, users will find the Files app has been tweaked a bit in this update to more clearly call out file structures.
We’ve still got a good while before we see Chrome 69 in the Stable Channel. It is not slated for release until September 11, 2018 so you can expect a few more Dev channel builds then a full round of 4-6 Beta Channel builds between now and then.
