Google ending ChromeOS support two years early
READ MORE
- Trump launches America.gov with AI chatbots at its corenow
- Fake Google Security Team ad says 'no script reading' in voice phishing - then prints the script4 days ago
- Google-backed energy outfit brings 33 MW of 4 GW geothermal potential online in Utah4 days ago
- Google Gemini can present cartoon or lifelike avatars to lip-sync generative chatter4 days ago
- Google's TPUs to catch some rays in orbit next week4 days ago
-
Astronomer watches Starlink satellites sinking to build a ‘planetary barometer’
-
ShinyHunters claims FBI hack: 'This is NOT financially motivated'
-
UPDAted Register reader hit with surprise bill after Microsoft portals disagreed
-
EXCLUSIVE Microsoft tells nonprofits their deleted M365 data isn't coming back
-
Security firm finds naming AI agents after Seinfeld characters helps bots join the team
-
DoJ: Uncle Sam bought forensics software from same Russian operation supplying FSB - Zuckerberg touts enterprise AI push because Meta would never do anything to damage your reputation New business unit to be led by former MongoDB CEO 'CJ' Desai
- AMD's 192 GB Gorgon Halo prices might leave you petrified Regular pricing starts at $6,799 - all that memory doesn't come cheap
- Schneider gives datacenter switchgear the software-defined treatment Equinix pilot promises faster deployment and over-the-air upgrades without downtime, provided the code behaves itself
- Investors are pricing in a 32.6% AI productivity boost for software engineers Economists turn stock movements into an estimate of anticipated gains – while warning that markets can get carried away
- AMD bets $8.2B that worlds matter more than words in AI AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li just co-founded spatial AI research company World Labs in 2024. Now it's joining AMD
- Security Russians are posing as Signal support to launch phishing attacks PLUS: US takes down Iranian propaganda sites; Marketing company asks 'Why Do We Have Your Information?' And more!
- Security Microsoft patches failed to fix on-prem SharePoint, which is now under zero-day attack PLUS: China upgrades smartphone surveillance tools; Ring eases anti-snooping stance; and more
- Black Hat and DEF CON DEF CON Franklin project enlists hackers to harden critical infrastructure Voting village reports have been so successful, says Jeff Moss, that the whole of DEF CON will now be included
- Security EQT buys majority share in Swiss cybersecurity biz Acronis Went at equivalent of $3.5B+ valuation for entire firm, though portion sold not specified
- Malware Month Ten years since the first corp ransomware, Mikko Hyppönen sees no end in sight On the plus side, infosec's a good bet for a long, stable career
- KDE turns 30 and someone's brought an AI-native desktop proposal Akademy talk imagines Plasma assembling itself around a personal model of each user
- Shopify extends lifeline to Tailwind as vibe coding erodes web dev platform's bottom line Acquisition gives open source CSS framework 'a stable long-term home'
- Switzerland tests a FOSS escape route from Microsoft 365 Swiss Army sticks a knife in American cloud apps with its own FOSS push
- Feel peak Windows was 7? You might like Kumander Linux Debian and Xfce – solid, sensible choices – with a pretty skin
- Canonical shuttering some of its legacy chat channels The Ubuntu Pastebin went in June, IRC gets demoted next
- Audacity audio-editing app no longer looks like it's from the early 2000s The FOSS tool for audio editing has a fresh coat of paint, and new features to boot
Google’s basic mathematical skills appear a little fragile, after the company revealed its promise of ten years of support for new Chromebooks will only last for eight years.
The web giant’s calculation problem appeared in a support document titled “What the Googlebook announcement means for your ChromeOS devices.”
Googlebooks are the big G’s replacement for Chromebooks, the web-centric computers it launched in 2011 and which run ChromeOS. Chromebooks have won plenty of admirers in the education sector, especially schools which see them as a fine way to get decent and well-priced computers into kids’ hands without having to take on the burden of managing a full OS.
REG AD
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.
REG AD
Google has so far launched Googlebooks only for consumers. None of the web giant’s five current Googlebook hardware partners designed their first models for the education market or other fleet buyers.
Those five, and many other OEMs, continue to crank out Chromebooks.
Google’s support policy for Chromebooks includes ten years of updates. However the support document states that if you buy a Chromebook today, updates will end in 2034 – eight years into the future, not a decade.
“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,” the support page explains.
But those migration paths don’t exist yet.
“Many newer commercial Chromebook models will be capable of upgrading to Googlebook OS. Details on migration paths and device eligibility will be shared at a later date,” the document explains.
Whenever the migration paths arrive, they will come with a requirement to acquire a new license for Googlebook OS management tools – existing ChromeOS licenses won’t make the trip.
While Google has unilaterally changed a policy, it’s hard to imagine many Chromebooks currently in service or acquired in the next year or two will still be in service come 2034. So the shorter support period is largely moot. But Google’s intention to make continued use of Chromebooks unattractive is clear. ®
[](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theregister.com%2Fos-platforms%2F2026%2F09%2F29%2Fgoogle-ending-chromeos-support-two-years-early%2F5299674) [](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theregister.com%2Fos-platforms%2F2026%2F09%2F29%2Fgoogle-ending-chromeos-support-two-years-early%2F5299674) [](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theregister.com%2Fos-platforms%2F2026%2F09%2F29%2Fgoogle-ending-chromeos-support-two-years-early%2F5299674) [](https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=Google%20ending%20ChromeOS%20support%20two%20years%20early%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.theregister.com%2Fos-platforms%2F2026%2F09%2F29%2Fgoogle-ending-chromeos-support-two-years-early%2F5299674) [](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theregister.com%2Fos-platforms%2F2026%2F09%2F29%2Fgoogle-ending-chromeos-support-two-years-early%2F5299674&title=Google%20ending%20ChromeOS%20support%20two%20years%20early) [](https://api.whatsapp.com/send?text=Google%20ending%20ChromeOS%20support%20two%20years%20early%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.theregister.com%2Fos-platforms%2F2026%2F09%2F29%2Fgoogle-ending-chromeos-support-two-years-early%2F5299674)
REG AD
FBI to ShinyHunters: 'We know how to find you' Federal cops have 'a very particular set of skills'