Google LLC is pursuing a multiyear effort to develop a version of ChromeOS that has Android at foundation, Android Authority reported today.

The initiative is believed to have two goals. One is to make ChromeOS tablets more competitive with the iPad, which has a significant market share lead. The other is to streamline Google’s engineering efforts: One operating system is simpler to maintain than two.

ChromeOS made its debut in 2011, about three years after the first Android devices shipped to consumers. Since then, the operating system has become a popular choice for low-cost laptops such as those used in schools. ChromeOS shares some interface elements with Google’s eponymous browser and includes a raft of cybersecurity features designed to fend off malware.

Google’s reported push to overhaul ChromeOS comes as its consumer software business faces mounting scrutiny.

Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled that the company maintains an illegal monopoly in the search market. According to a Bloomberg report published today, the Justice Department has asked the judge to order that Google sell off Chrome. Additionally, antitrust officials are seeking an injunction that would require the search giant to separate Android from its search engine and other products without selling off the operating system.

Should the judge accept the Justice Department’s arguments, a future Android-powered version of ChromeOS could be affected by the antitrust measures. That might reduce Google’s incentive to continue with its reported effort to combine the operating systems. 

In any case, the reported effort to replace the core ChromeOS code base with Android wouldn’t mark the first major overhaul of the former platform. ChromeOS was originally built on Ubuntu, but the search giant later decided to switch to a different Linux distribution called Gentoo. Google has since replaced Gentoo with a third Linux flavor called Debian.

In July, the company announced yet another ChromeOS revamp. Google engineers detailed their plans to upgrade the operating system from Debian to the version of the Linux kernel that powers Android. The kernel is the part of the operating system that contains its most important components, most notably the code responsible for managing the underlying hardware.

At the time of the project’s announcement, Google also announced plans to equip ChromeOS with several “Android frameworks.” The laptop operating system already incorporates certain Android components, including the software toolkit responsible for managing Bluetooth connections.

It’s believed the Android-powered version of ChromeOS could debut with the new Pixel Laptop, code-named Snowy, that Google is reportedly developing. According to Android Authority, Google plans to position the Pixel Laptop as an alternative to the MacBook Pro and Microsoft Corp.’s Surface Laptop.

Image: Google