Google breaks promise to provide 10 years of updates to Chromebooks

gib444

Recently https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49893653

jqpabc123

Since when has Google ever been trustworthy? This is just standard operating procedure. Remember --- "Don't be Evil".

mbeavitt

For anyone currently owning a Chromebook and worrying about this: https://docs.mrchromebox.tech

easyThrowaway

Are the people who made the promise even still at Google? It reminds me of those sketchy companies on Amazon promising "lifetime guarantee" on their products when they know already they're gonna close shop and reopen on a completely different brand the very next year.

motionlessveloc

The actual update: > ChromeOS devices will continue to receive regular updates and security patches through mid-2034. For qualifying devices purchased today whose 10-year support lifecycle extends beyond 2034, Google is committed to supporting your transition to Googlebook OS, with many devices offering direct migration paths. In other words, support will be offered until 2034. if you're buying a new Chromebook today and intend to keep it for longer than 8 years, you're doing so at your own risk.

silon42

The only reason I'd consider buying a Chromebook is to install Linux on it... Same is true for Googlebook.

pphysch

So it's as low as 8 years instead of 10 for models purchased in the last 2 years (2034 being the cutoff), with those few devices being covered by a separate commitment to transfer them to GoogleOS by 2034. Pretty lame detail to be enraged about, but it is Google and this is HN. This aligns with Apple's timeline for killing Intel MacBook support after releasing Apple Silicon (2029 being the last commitment).

jezzamon

Discussed a lot here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49893653 Seems to be more reasonable than this title suggests? Some comments: "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." (Edit: actually I think this comment is wrong, if you bought a Chromebook 1 year ago, you'd only get 9 years of ChromeOS updates) "From my understanding of the article, it sounds like ChromeOS support is getting pared back for those devices, but the devices themselves should still be supported, albeit via a (planned but not yet in existence) migration path to GooglebookOS."

static_motion

Is anyone surprised at this? Abandoning products in an untimely fashion is their specialty. I've never bought a hardware product from them for that reason, except for a 2nd gen Chromecast which was something whose longevity I didn't care too much about.

hbn

My pet theory with this move from Chromebooks to Googlebooks is simply that Chromebooks have a major stink on their entire brand reputation, especially in the younger generation that went through school with terrible cheap (and likely used/damaged) Chromebooks being given to them for schoolwork. I think if you say "Chromebook" around most 20-something and unders, they have an instant negative association with the word.

orbital-decay

>Stuff like this should not be legal. Alternatively, if users want legally binding contracts they should not treat promises as such, and demand a contract instead.

soulofmischief

I can't be the only one who thinks Googlebook is the least appealing name I may have ever heard for a hardware product.

threethirtytwo

Stuff like this should not be legal? Isn’t it illegal? It’s actual false advertising. You can sue them, it’s just no one has.

shevy-java

Good thing I did not trust Google 10 years ago either. What we see here is a strategic shift by Google; you need to connect this here, with the prior Google strategy of no longer open sourcing Android-related stuff or with a huge delay. This is not an isolated thing - Google is planning Evil again, as usual.

fouc

This is the first time I've heard of this promise for 10 years of updates. That seems quite impressive when compared against the 2-3 years of updates android phones historically got.

extralongdivisi

Long term support is not the Google way

21asdffdsa12

As a great philosopher once said "Don't be eval".. if you cant be compared, you cant be cornered..

sodacanner

A maybe not-so-silver lining is that the major consumers of Chromebooks (schools, mostly) probably won't see their hardware survive that long.

GaunterODimm

Curious that we have expectations for google to maintain such promises. Any other major companies with similar level of expectations?

blasphemers

The willful ignorance of the tech community is getting out of hand. This is the same thing as the "windows 10 is the last version of windows" discourse which stems from the absolutely abysmal state of tech journalism. You would think that by now that it would at least match financial journalism, but apparently we're fine settling for people who don't care about or understand what they are writing about. This isn't an issue, the 10 years of support was promised for the hardware, not the software. They are fulfilling that promise by updating the devices to GooglebookOS.