This has really been a long time coming. X11 is very old and a lot of people have been trying to figure out how to get this replaced. Probably makes sense that Google really just took the lead on this.
@scottalanmiller I got to see the Pixel. I still would prefer the newest HP 14" Chromebook though, speakers sound better than the rest I have seen. Acer's touch capability is nice, but that's not something I need nor want on a laptop right now. That's why I own a tablet.
I think that they remain pretty tough for developers still too. Although a more traditional Linux desktop will be great for that. Mint, OpenSuse or Fedora make awesome development workstations.