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Google ending ChromeOS support two years early

238 points · 148 comments · rbanffy

  1. TheqO · · focus · HN ↗

        > Googlebooks are the Google's replacement for Chromebooks, the web-centric computers it launched in 2011 and which run ChromeOS....

    The newer Googlebook range uses more powerful processors than their predecessors, plus a new OS called Googlebook OS that bakes in Google’s Gemini AI – a product the Chocolate Factory is very keen to see succeed as the great AI land grab continues.

    ...If you buy a Chromebook today, updates will end in 2034 eight years into the future
    So they have introduced a major change and said any older Chromebooks bought going forward will only get 8. So its not a retrospective reduction for existing customers.

    Sounds reasonable.

    8 years is still a long time for a cheap Chromebook.

    1. JimDabell · · focus · HN ↗
      Large organisations don’t buy a single batch of machines then call it a day. If an organisation standardised on Chromebooks because of the support period, they will still need to buy new machines and those won’t get the support period they had expected.
      1. gegtik · · focus · HN ↗
        are you saying google is betraying them unless they sell new chromebooks with 10y chromeOS contracts going forward until the heat death of the universe?
        1. JimDabell · · focus · HN ↗
          Can you quote the part of my comment that you think says that?
        2. smuhakg · · focus · HN ↗
          I would prefer the Microsoft way, where they double the cost every few years with extended support, super duper extended support, and more.

          Then when my organization inevitably fucks up the migration we can pay money to bail ourselves out rather than being out of compliance.

        3. [deleted] · · focus · HN ↗

          [deleted]

        4. mrandish · · focus · HN ↗
          No one here is saying companies need to offer products forever. They do need to honor their commitments made in the past. For purchasers who bought more than two years ago and those who purchase after today, there's no issue. They are getting what was promised prior to their purchase. People who bought in 2024 or before will get 10 years. People who buy tomorrow will get 8 years.

          The only issue is for those who purchased Chromebooks in the past two years. They purchased based on a promise of ten years support. Now Google is retroactively clawing back two years of that support. If today Google had announced 2036 as end of support instead of 2034, there'd be no problem.

          1. willtemperley · · focus · HN ↗
            It’s straight-up false advertising and they should be held accountable.
          2. [deleted] · · focus · HN ↗

            [deleted]

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