Chromebooks Are About To Change (androidcentral.com) 36
Google is preparing to introduce a significant change to its ChromeOS platform by decoupling the Chrome browser from the operating system, AndroidCentral writes. The project, known as "Lacros" (Linux And Chrome OS), aims to solve several issues, including the inability to receive browser updates after a Chromebook reaches its Auto Update Expiration (AUE) date. This change will allow users to install updates for the browser separately, potentially extending the lifespan of their devices and reducing e-waste. Additionally, Lacros will bring a consistent user experience across all platforms, including features like profile switching without the need to log out of accounts.
Google has yet to announce the exact release date of the change, however, the report adds.
Google has yet to announce the exact release date of the change, however, the report adds.
That will be the year (Score:3)
Of Linux on the laptop. And no, Stallman doesn't get to call this one GNU/Linux given there's no gnu in it.
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I think you will find plenty of GNU software in the "Help...About" menu, and in the command line console it sure does look like GNU/Linux to me.
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The problem is that the vendor (e.g., HP) has control over updates for the OS, but if the browser is just an app, then Google can offer updates independently of the hardware vendor. In most cases, vendors could keep offering updates for years after they choose to stop. We got burned on this when we bought a reasonably decent Chromebook for our kid, and didn't realize that it had been on the market for a couple of years and was about to stop getting updates.
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Well it's unclear why 'Linux' would ever become end of life'd if Google were to upstream any drivers and firmware to kernel.org
Let's assume they go a step further and isolate the ChromeOS-specific bits in a container.
I hear ChromeOS is build on top of a Gentoo derivative. Can't they have an unsupported* Konami code to unlock a minimal Gentoo/Portage environment to upgrade the core OS indefinitely? i.e. stuck on version X of the UI forever but if there's a security bug in the wifi or USB-C controller then it
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I've been running Gentoo/Funtoo for over 20 years now. I'm chuckling now at the prospect of dropping unsuspecting Chromebook purchasers into figuring out baselayout problems or circular dependencies.
don't they have an android like vendor driver pack (Score:2)
don't they have an android like vendor driver pack that is not really the same on each device.
Also chromeOS can do stuff like load wifi drivers not part of the main build
can load ati or nvidia drivers that are not part of the main build.
Missing the point (Score:2)
Everyone is complaining that since there's Linux (including a Gentoo underlying the entire system), why can't there be a way to allow updates (perhaps even though those updates would make the system unsupported).
Chromebooks have a fairly short shelf-life with built-in planned obsolescence. You are wishing the vendor would undo that situation. "Correct the planned obsolescence.")
And stop forcing people to buy new Chromebooks?
Yeah that's going to happen!
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Chromebooks have a fairly short shelf-life with built-in planned obsolescence
Ten years of OS upgrades from when a model is introduced is "fairly short"? What would you consider adequate then?
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New Chromebooks now get *ten years* of OS fixes and upgrades, guaranteed. This includes my 2022 model (bought 2023, supported to 2032).
You won't get that from Apple (maybe 7 years?).
You won't get it from MS now (some 2018 PCs are not supported in Win11, and non-enterprise Win10 support ends in 2025).
So, perhaps you'd like to tell us what device and OS combination we should all buy to give us longer support than ChromeOS?
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I’ll believe that when 10 years passes.
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New Chromebooks now get *ten years* of OS fixes and upgrades, guaranteed. This includes my 2022 model (bought 2023, supported to 2032).
You won't get that from Apple (maybe 7 years?).
You won't get it from MS now (some 2018 PCs are not supported in Win11, and non-enterprise Win10 support ends in 2025).
So, perhaps you'd like to tell us what device and OS combination we should all buy to give us longer support than ChromeOS?
Apple's Mac support extends to no less than 7 years after the last date of sale.
Re: What's good for the gander (Score:3)
Why would apple bother? Nobody even wants to use safari if they can help it, and apple knows it. Do you seriously think apple killed off the windows version because of its overwhelming popularity? As if...
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Why would apple bother? Nobody even wants to use safari if they can help it, and apple knows it. Do you seriously think apple killed off the windows version because of its overwhelming popularity? As if...
The Windows Safari was unpopular because it used Apple's Font Anti-fuzz (can't remember the term) Rules, rather than the Windows ones that those people were used to. So Documents looked slightly different. Mac users (like me) liked it, though. I used Safari for Windows on W7 until basically no websites would deign to talk to it!
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There hasn't been a Linux (or Windows) version of Safari in over a decade. Apple doesn't want anyone running it on a non-Apple OS.
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There hasn't been a Linux (or Windows) version of Safari in over a decade. Apple doesn't want anyone running it on a non-Apple OS.
Sorry, no.
See: https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... [slashdot.org]
apple can make Safari for pc, android, linux (Score:2)
apple can make Safari for pc, android, linux but they don't and on ios they don't want to any choice.
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apple can make Safari for pc, android, linux but they don't and on ios they don't want to any choice.
Apple was burned when it did Safari for Windows. That's why they didn't try to go any further.
See: https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... [slashdot.org]
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:eyeroll:
Leaving aside the issue of whether Chromebooks have a sufficient market share for the DMA or other competition law to be applicable, first Apple would actually have to make a version of Safari that is capable of running on a non-Apple OS.
But I suppose you're the sort of moron who would demand that your helicopter hire business be allowed to run open operator rail services in the UK.
Apple had a Windows version of Safari for a few years. Worked fine. But it was unpopular.
See: https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... [slashdot.org]
Chromebooks finally embracing their inner Linux (Score:2)
C(h)rom(e) (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh wow, is it going to be a real operating system now? Not just a web browser?
Funny to see this schizophrenic company admitting that not everything can be done in a web browser.
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No, the browser is one of the app layers on a Chromebook, not its OS services layer.
Re:C(h)rom(e) (Score:5, Informative)
Please go and actually use a Chromebook. It's a Linux distribution that uses the web browser as just one of several application environments. In addition to the web environment, it supports containers for Andoid, Linux, and Windows apps, and integrates them all under one desktop manager, perfectly seamlessly.
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Re:C(h)rom(e) (Score:4, Informative)
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I'm struggling to read between the buzzwords here, but I understand that ChromeOS is a locked-down distribution of Linux that can't run any native apps; it can only browse the internet or use web apps. Now I see they're allowing you to run "legacy apps" inside a PWA, which is not the same thing as running apps natively. Are you actually talking about using ChromeOS Virtual App Delivery? Because these are still web apps encapsulating an emulation layer, and am very skeptical this is a good idea.
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It can run a lot of native apps. You can run a Linux mode on it and install stuff via apt. I don't quite understand how it all works - it's some mutant container/virtualisation thing - but it /works/.
It's Linux on the desktop. It's great for SMEs and has tons of enterprise features. Anecdata, but more than half our SME is.ok Chromebook because it's a lightweight, cheap browser focus desktop environment, and we can set up full Linux Firefox on it if needed (we did for a while to run a few websites that neede
Please let me run ... (Score:2)
... my IDEs and GUI tools on a Chromebook with no extra hassle. That would be soooo cool and likely push ChromeOS forward by a large margin. Let's see what they're up to.
Don't make this mistake when you buy a Chromebook (Score:4, Insightful)
Do not buy an underpowered machine and expect ChromeOS to somehow make up the difference and let you run apps with an acceptable level of performance. You will hate running ChromeOS on a slow machine just as much as you would hate running Windows. Spend enough money on hardware that will last the full 10 years of support. Get a fast CPU. Web apps are especially susceptible to memory bloat, so do not skimp on RAM. You will not need a large local disk for the OS. Buy storage based on your app usage only. A 2-in-1 form factor is a game changer for many work flows. I will never go back to a normal clamshell design.
I have ChromeOS, Android, and Linux all installed on my Chromebook, and I use apps running on all three environments everyday. They've done a very good job integrating the desktop environment, you'd never know you were running on different hosts.
I have never had to do a manual install of a ChromeOS update. All updates are automatic, and most do require a restart, but I've never had work interrupted because of an update. I have had to do manual updates of the Linux container. ChromeOS attempts to keep this updated, but only about 1 in 3 updates can be done automatically. As every Linux user knows, you can't avoid having to jump in and fix up a dependency.
On the big selling points of ChromeOS -- you have to learn only one UI, all the hardware just works, updates are automatic, local storage is just a cache of your cloud accounts so you can literally switch entire machines in a manner of minutes -- they've done an outstanding job, in my opinion. This is as close to set-it-and-forget-it as it gets. Much better than an Apple laptop in that regard, and miles better than a Windows laptop.
About that e-waste thing... (Score:3)
About that e-waste thing: I have several Chromebooks that I really liked over the past decade and a half but after three to five years the batteries wear out. It's almost like they're planned to wear out once Google support runs out.