Google last week added its Google Now personal assistant to the app launcher in a preview of Chrome OS, the browser-based operating system that powers Chromebooks. Included in the March 26 release of Chrome OS’s latest Beta build — one of three “channels” maintained by Google — was a revamped Chrome Launcher 2.0, the name for the operating system’s app launcher, analogous to Windows’ Start menu.
The refreshed launcher has changed from a smaller pop-up menu to a larger window centered on the screen, with a prominent Google search field and a curated row of the most frequently-used apps’ icons below that.
