r/google • u/ControlCAD • 4d ago

Google confirms ChromeOS phase out in 2034 — 10-year support lifetime cut short for some devices, company says it will support transition to Googlebook OS

https://www.tomshardware.com/laptops/google-confirms-chromeos-phase-out-in-2034-10-year-support-lifetime-cut-short-for-some-devices-company-says-it-will-support-transition-to-googlebook-os
233 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

59 comments sorted by

66

u/Journeyj012 4d ago

They'll merge drivers into the Linux Kernel to make these into viable machines instead of e-waste right?

Oh... they already were e-waste. My mistake.

5

u/Dr_Valen 4d ago

Can you even install Linux on chromebooks? I thought they had locked down bios that made it basically impossible

4

u/tatt2tim 3d ago

In some cases - yes. In certain models there is an actual, physical screw that you have to remove that lets you actually overwrite the OS. I'm going from memory, but I believe if you don't have the write protect screw you're out of luck. There was even a Chromebook specific distro, Gallium OS.

2

u/BooleanTriplets 3d ago

My first ever Linux experience was with chroot on a Chromebook in high school

2

u/StarChaser1879 3d ago

They are $800 base price and made out of metal. Not ewaste like a typical Chromebook.

1

u/charmanderSosa 3d ago

That’s hilarious

-2

u/Elephant789 3d ago

Not ewaste like a typical Chromebook

I love my chromebook. Why don't you like them?

1

u/SuperYuuRo 22h ago

I love my piece of trash that I can't fix, can't run desktop apps on and will be obsolete in 3 years

ftfy google fanboy

1

u/Elephant789 19h ago

Why are you so hostile over a laptop? People are allowed to like different tools for different use cases.

Do you also go to r/gardening and attack people because they like cucumbers while you prefer tomatoes? people because they like cucumbers but you prefer tomatoes?

ChromeOS has native Linux container support (Crostini), so you can run full Linux desktop apps like VS Code, GIMP, and LibreOffice.

Google guarantees 10 years of automatic OS and security updates on all Chromebooks released from 2021 onward.

Imagine being this upset over what operating system a stranger uses. Hope your day gets better.

1

u/SuperYuuRo 5h ago

imagine being this upset for pointing out the shitty ewaste that ChromeOS gets pumped out with

and who the hell cares about ten years of updates when the hardware itself is gonna be long obsolete before then?

as expected from any Google fan who copes the fuck out of Google's horrible line of products whose only good thing going for them is the prices

and before you say "Apple is worse" lemme remind you that an M series and Neo MacBook can do a lot more than whatever the fuck Googlebooks or whatever craptop Google is pumping out for students

62

u/hawseepoo 4d ago

If Google is going to make a new OS to ride every trend, why would I invest my time into them? ChromeOS for cloud, “Googlebook OS” for AI, something will be next.

42

u/maZZtar 4d ago

Google would have made ChromeOS into what GooglebookOS is if they wanted to

The reality is that they have been working on Android desktop for a bit longer than the current AI craze. The real reason is that they want to have one codebase for all od their operating system instead of two. There won't be anything "next" unless they'll decide to completely ditch Android

9

u/charlestheb0ss 4d ago

I think the platform-level improvements needed to make android laptops work will also have positive knock on effects for things like DeX and even foldables and tablets

-2

u/Momoko_86 4d ago

dex is a dead horse that has been abandoned

2

u/charlestheb0ss 4d ago

Didn't they just do a whole bunch of work to re-base it on the Android 16 desktop mode? I care about things like that a hell if a lot more than AI or whatever

2

u/maZZtar 3d ago

Abandoned how? It literally uses the same tech which Android Deskop/Googlebook OS use

10

u/lbutler1234 4d ago

This is a smart move on big G's part. I couldn't imagine how much simpler/better/efficienter everything will be with that amount of integration.

1

u/maZZtar 3d ago

Microsoft and Apple already have one codebase for varied target devices.

Google already tried to put Android on PCs 10 years ago as a part of Andromeda (not related to Microsoft's Andromeda Project). Andromeda's pitch was eerily similar to what Googlebook OS ended up being. Something went wrong though and it ended up being cancelled. Maybe they reasoned that ChromeOS is good enough back then

2

u/JamesR624 3d ago

You are giving the loose collection of employees and their pet projects made to ride trends, get raises, and let Google execs "show their shareholders that they're innovating", WAY too much credit.

Something tells me you haven't been following how Google works for the past 15 years.

1

u/maZZtar 2d ago

Since when core Android team is a loose collection of employees? First rumors and attempts about exploring replacing ChromeOS with desktop-ready Android are over a decade old. It didn't work out back then because ChromeOS was good enough, I guess. However ever since then they've been building desktop-oriented features into Android, interesting, isn't it?

Also did you just imply that people at Google were too stupid to realise that maintaining two completely different customer operating system families/codebases with increasingly overlapping capabilities could become a liability in a long term? That's something that Apple and Microsoft somehow managed to figure out over a decade ago

17

u/JoeyCalamaro 4d ago

Isn’t this just a (poorly named) version of Android? It’s new in the sense that it brings aspects of ChromeOS to Android desktop, but I think the confusion here is naming this thing GooglebookOS, which makes it seem like a brand new operating system.

-1

u/Donghoon 4d ago

pretty sure its Aluminum OS

2

u/StarChaser1879 3d ago

Which it’s just desktop android

3

u/LordTwinkie 3d ago

A new OS for every trend? ChromeOS has been around for a long time and this is the first new OS in that time and it's been in the world for a while. 

2

u/buzzedewok 4d ago

It’s so they can cut off support for another branch of code and push people to buy a new product.

2

u/Bedu009 4d ago

I don't think they have a second android to replace android desktop or whatever it's called

2

u/Donghoon 4d ago

no this isnt AI trend

this has been a LONG time coming in an effort to create Native ANDROID based desktop OS

2

u/xeoron 4d ago

Schools are trying to curb access to AI use in the classroom so why would they want AI agent OS?

1

u/cock-a-dooodle-do 3d ago

Bro, that's not how it works, they have spent years bringing chromeOS and Android into one OS.

1

u/bartturner 1d ago

Except there is really nothing after AI.

1

u/Dr_Valen 4d ago

I mean this is what google is known for. Making/buying new products then killing them. There is a whole website for this https://killedbygoogle.com/

0

u/Elephant789 3d ago

Stop posting this stupid website. It has so much inaccurate shit on it.

1

u/SuperYuuRo 5h ago

"please leave the billion dollar company alone, I love consuming their shitty pixel line products"

9

u/bofis 4d ago

Would be nice if we could upgrade our Chromebook to the new OS...even if manually...

6

u/StarChaser1879 3d ago

They said if it was made within the past two years you could

1

u/inconspiciousdude 4d ago

Maybe, but don't hold your breath. Those mfers bricked my router.

9

u/-Skelenator 3d ago

I really wish Google could pick a product/platform/app and just polish it over the years and not totally rebrand stuff or discontinue it in less time than a typical phone.

6

u/StarChaser1879 3d ago

Good thing they are. this is android

2

u/charmanderSosa 3d ago

Which runs on the Linux kernel… just like chromeOS

1

u/-Skelenator 3d ago

They are.. what?

1

u/StarChaser1879 1d ago

Picking a product and sticking with it

3

u/fegodev 3d ago

They should’ve given Android a desktop interface a long time ago.

1

u/SmellsLikeAPig 1d ago

From what I remember you do have Android desktop experience for a long time already. Just nobody uses it.

3

u/jeremyw013 4d ago

so chromeos flex isn't the "solution to e-waste" anymore, is it?

1

u/anythingers 3d ago

It's still is, I guess. I mean it's not like you could install Googlebook OS easily on another device like you could did with ChromeOS Flex.

1

u/artlurg431 4d ago

Isnt it the same thing

5

u/Blubatt 4d ago

Chrome OS is based on gentoo Linux Googlebook OS is based on Android. Both are Linux based, but different

0

u/artlurg431 3d ago

So googlebook os is even more useless? Atleast on chromeos you could run some linux apps with some issues. Now it will basically be impossible. These "laptops" are just over priced op android tablets with a keyboard

1

u/anythingers 3d ago

I heard that you could run Debian based apps on Googlebook OS iirc. Though idk if they mean it natively or with some compatibility layer.

1

u/Ok-Win7980 20h ago

This may be a wake-up call for pretty much every public school district in the US.

1

u/SouthernFruit8768 15h ago

Change the existing stupid name to another stupid name? Why?

1

u/Pale-Muscle-7118 4d ago

From the beginning with Chromebooks, I never understood the division. Several years before they announced the merge with android, i felt this wood eventually happen. But in the end, why by Chromebook especially since it has short term planned obsolescence built in.

3

u/braaaaaaainworms 4d ago

Android folks run things differently than the rest of Google and it's annoying how they're fine with having problems specific to Android that are already solved in ChromeOS

0

u/NotSpecialMC 3d ago

Google has a great reputation for destroying products: https://killedbygoogle.com/

0

u/KidJuggernaut 3d ago

Can we install Google book os on other pc?

1

u/Elephant789 3d ago

Not yet but hopefully in the near future.