Chromebooks just got cool new features as ChromeOS 105 update arrives

Great news for owners of the best Chromebooks comes courtesy of Google itself, which has confirmed that the ChromeOS 105 update is now rolling out.

The news was officially communicated on the Google Blog, with ChromeOS 105 "for most ChromeOS devices rolled out over the next few days".

And, the exciting thing is that, as reported by About Chromebooks, there's a couple of cool new features we didn't know about hidden in this new ChromeOS release.

The first of these new features is Adaptive Charging. This has been designed to help elongate the battery health of all Chromebooks and involves ChromeOS 105 tweaking how and when a system's battery is charged to slow down battery degradation.

The second new feature is a one-click Virtual Desk close. Previously this was not possible, so streamlines the whole experience for users.

In addition, ChromeOS 105 also delivers a new gaming interface overlay for Android games. This new feature is detailed on the official ChromeOS blog, and makes it easier to play games that were largely designed for touchscreen mobile devices.

The T3 take: better, smarter battery life

All of these new features are welcome, as well as the security improvements that ChromeOS 105 delivers, too. However, for me, it is the new Adaptive Charging feature that most excites me.

Chromebooks are fantastic devices and often have battery life stats that put Windows laptops to shame, which makes them ideal as lightweight, go-all-day, portable PCs.

But, simply put, battery deterioration does occur on Chromebooks just like on any other piece of hardware, so if this Adaptive Charging feature can slow that degradation down then it means Chromebook owners are going to get better battery life performance from their system for longer.

That, more than anything, makes ChromeOS 105 an essential install in my mind for any Chromebook owner.