diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yaml b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
index ae5c296..981f464 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ on:
 jobs:
   build:
     runs-on:
-      - HELIOS-AI
+      - STANDARD-RUNNER
     strategy:
       matrix:
         distro:
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 0165fc5..f0134b7 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -119,7 +119,9 @@ COPY common/root/ /
 
 # LD_PRELOAD wrapper handlers (selkies hack)
 RUN chmod +x /usr/bin/thunar \
-    && chmod +x /usr/bin/sudo
+    && chmod +x /usr/bin/sudo \
+    && chmod +x /usr/bin/google-chrome-stable \
+    && chmod +x /usr/bin/google-chrome
 
 # copy in distro specific custom rootfs changes
 COPY ${SRC}/root/ /
diff --git a/common/build/system.sh b/common/build/system.sh
index d6404b1..315b516 100644
--- a/common/build/system.sh
+++ b/common/build/system.sh
@@ -28,33 +28,25 @@ mv -v otf/static/* /usr/share/fonts/cascadia-code/
 rm -rfv /tmp/*
 fc-cache -f -v
 
+# install chrome
+if command -v apt &> /dev/null; then
+  apt update
+  apt install -y wget unzip
+  wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
+  dpkg -i google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb || apt -f install -y
+  rm google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
+else
+  dnf install -y wget unzip
+  wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_x86_64.rpm
+  dnf install -y google-chrome-stable_current_x86_64.rpm
+  rm google-chrome-stable_current_x86_64.rpm
+fi
+
 # LD_PRELOAD fix
 mv /usr/bin/thunar /usr/bin/thunar-real
 mv /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/sudo-real
-
-# build out conda tooling
-mkdir -p /opt
-wget https://repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh -P /opt
-chmod -v +x /opt/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh
-/opt/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh -b -p /opt/miniconda
-eval "$(/opt/miniconda/bin/conda shell.bash hook)"
-export PATH="/opt/miniconda/bin:/opt/miniconda/condabin:/usr/local/cuda/bin:$PATH"
-export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/usr/local/cuda/lib64:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
-conda tos accept --override-channels --channel https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main
-conda tos accept --override-channels --channel https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r
-conda config --set channel_priority strict
-
-# setup vllm environment
-conda create -p /opt/conda/envs/vllm python=3.12 -y
-conda activate /opt/conda/envs/vllm
-pip install vllm "huggingface_hub[cli]" "open-webui[all]"
-conda deactivate
-
-# setup shared conda environments
-chmod -R 7777 /opt/conda
-chmod -R 7777 /opt/miniconda
+mv /usr/bin/google-chrome-stable /usr/bin/google-chrome-stable-real
+mv /usr/bin/google-chrome /usr/bin/google-chrome-real
 
 # Cleanup
-rm -f /opt/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh
-conda clean -afy
 rm -rf /tmp/*
diff --git a/common/root/etc/skel/.bashrc b/common/root/etc/skel/.bashrc
index 6596372..51fc35c 100644
--- a/common/root/etc/skel/.bashrc
+++ b/common/root/etc/skel/.bashrc
@@ -8,25 +8,6 @@ case $- in
       *) return;;
 esac
 
-# >>> conda initialize >>>
-__conda_setup="$('/opt/miniconda/bin/conda' 'shell.bash' 'hook' 2> /dev/null)"
-if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
-    eval "$__conda_setup"
-else
-    if [ -f "/opt/miniconda/etc/profile.d/conda.sh" ]; then
-        . "/opt/miniconda/etc/profile.d/conda.sh"
-    else
-        export PATH="/opt/miniconda/bin:$PATH"
-    fi
-fi
-unset __conda_setup
-# <<< conda initialize <<<
-
-export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/usr/local/cuda/lib64:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
-
-# Shared conda environments
-export CONDA_ENVS_PATH="/opt/conda/envs"
-
 # UTF-8 locale
 export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8
diff --git a/common/root/etc/skel/.zshrc b/common/root/etc/skel/.zshrc
index 6717a9c..a03abdd 100644
--- a/common/root/etc/skel/.zshrc
+++ b/common/root/etc/skel/.zshrc
@@ -1,25 +1,6 @@
 # If you come from bash you might have to change your $PATH.
 # export PATH=$HOME/bin:/usr/local/bin:$PATH
 
-# >>> conda initialize >>>
-__conda_setup="$('/opt/miniconda/bin/conda' 'shell.zsh' 'hook' 2> /dev/null)"
-if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
-    eval "$__conda_setup"
-else
-    if [ -f "/opt/miniconda/etc/profile.d/conda.sh" ]; then
-        . "/opt/miniconda/etc/profile.d/conda.sh"
-    else
-        export PATH="/opt/miniconda/bin:$PATH"
-    fi
-fi
-unset __conda_setup
-# <<< conda initialize <<<
-
-export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/usr/local/cuda/lib64:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
-
-# Shared conda environments
-export CONDA_ENVS_PATH="/opt/conda/envs"
-
 # UTF-8 locale
 export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8
diff --git a/common/root/usr/bin/google-chrome b/common/root/usr/bin/google-chrome
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..608e1a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/root/usr/bin/google-chrome
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+rm -rf $HOME/.config/google-chrome/Singleton* || true
+unset LD_PRELOAD
+google-chrome-real --no-sandbox "$@"
diff --git a/common/root/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable b/common/root/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e708c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/root/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+rm -rf $HOME/.config/google-chrome/Singleton* || true
+unset LD_PRELOAD
+google-chrome-stable-real --no-sandbox "$@"
diff --git a/packages/system.yaml b/packages/system.yaml
index 2fafcfc..1f277c5 100644
--- a/packages/system.yaml
+++ b/packages/system.yaml
@@ -1,18 +1,15 @@
 packages:
-  - noble: firefox
-    jammy: firefox
-    debian: firefox-esr
-    kali: firefox-esr
-    sid: firefox-esr
-    rhel: firefox
-
   # ====================================
   # Common packages across all distributions
   # ====================================
 
+  # gcc compiler for building native extensions and compiling code; essential for development and many Python packages with C extensions.
+  - common: gcc
+
   # sudo for privilege escalation
   - common: sudo
 
+  # zsh shell, an alternative to bash with enhanced features and user experience.
   - common: zsh
 
   # keyboard/mouse simulation for x11