Google I/O 2011: Chromebooks for Business & Chromebooks for Education Get Official With Monthly Subscription Plans

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Google unveiled today at its Google I/O 2011 conference the future of its Chrome OS and we saw the first two netbooks/notebooks coming from Samsung and Acer get officially official. The two devices will be available starting with June 15, and we already have pricing details and international retailers for you.

But what about businesses and schools that want to move to Chrome OS and get new Chromebooks or Chromeboxes for less? Well Google’s got you covered as the company has also pitched businesses and schools special Chromebooks offers for them.

During the keynote we saw Google mention a bunch of times how expensive computers can be for certain businesses, not to mention the education system, but does that mean these companies or government institutions are ready to make the switch from Windows XP, or newer, to Chrome OS? As easy as Chrome OS sounds like to operate, at least after having seen Google demo it again, will it be similarly easy to use by business and government institutions that, while they may not find that affordable to update to the latest Windows OS version, are pretty used to relying on that environment for their daily computer needs? Google’s Chromebooks special plans for business and education apparently want to contribute to making the switch a little easier, at least starting with the wallet.

Chromebooks for Business will cost $28 per user per month. For that monthly fee you get to buy new Chromebooks for your employees and Google will throw in full support, web console, warranty and replacements and, most importantly, hardware auto-updates. In other words they’ll replace the Chromebooks when a new generation becomes available.

Besides businesses, Google is also thinking about schools with Chromebooks for Education. The school program is similar to the business Chrome OS program, but it’s just a little cheaper, at $20 per user per month. Chromebooks for Education will work for both schools and government institutions, and we’re certainly interested to see how popular these two endeavors will get.

Both the Chromebooks for education and the Chromebooks for business will be available starting on the same date the Chromebooks go on sale, June 15, so go ahead, start making Chromebooks purchase plans for your business or school right away!