These Official ChromeOS Flex USB Sticks Can Give Your Old Mac or Windows PC a Second Life
“People want something that lasts a long time, that is of quality, that is useful,” explains Alexander Kuscher, CEO of Google. “Eventually when it breaks or when you lose it, you get a new one because you feel taken care of. So I think it builds confidence, and confidence is important.”
Flex started as an enterprise service for businesses; Google has offered businesses concerned about security vulnerabilities on aging hardware a way to easily update to a more secure operating system. Or, at least, the one that always received updates. After a while, other users began to make the software their own, downloading and installing it on their own USB drives for their personal machines. “At the time, we didn’t make it particularly easy,” says Kuscher. “But people did it.”
What led to a more consumer-oriented push for ChromeOS Flex, like this partnership with Back Market, was the end of software support for Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system last fall. Although the operating system technically still works, it has stopped receiving security updates and Microsoft has encouraged users to update to Windows 11. But Windows 11 has specific hardware requirements, and it may not be a simple upgrade on some machines. Google saw this as the moment to offer a less expensive alternative to the “Windows 10 cliff,” as Kuscher puts it. Back Market agrees.
“Eventually, [Microsoft is] saying people should throw away their existing laptop to buy another one,” says Hug de Larauze. “And we politely say no.”
If you’re tech-savvy, you can forgo the $3 key from Back Market and download ChromeOS Flex on a USB drive you currently have.
Buy Refurbished
Back Market is doing very well despite the economic crisis. As devices become more expensive, people are turning to cheaper, refurbished options. He compares the electronics market to the automobile industry.
“Ninety percent of cars are sold second-hand,” explains Hug de Larauze. “The new norm is to buy them used, because it’s almost stupid to buy a new one.”
When US President Donald Trump announced drastic tariffs last year, Hug de Larauze says Back Market sales subsequently tripled. Even after the dust settled a bit and it became clear that the tariffs wouldn’t directly affect smartphones or computers, Hug de Larauze says sales remained about double what they were before. Back Market earned $3.8 billion in 2025, making the company profitable for the first time. Although Hug de Larauze says these types of economic fluctuations could be beneficial in sending more people to the Back Market, he hopes it will shift buyers’ mentality toward purchasing reconditioned technology more broadly.
“We only have one planet and resources are limited,” says Hug de Larauze. “We need to do more with what we already have in all sectors. Fashion is the same, transport is the same, energy is the same, it’s the same for everything.”
