Why Google's Android for PC Launch May Be Messy and Controversial (theverge.com) 53
Google's much-anticipated plan to merge Android and ChromeOS into a single operating system called Aluminium is shaping up to be a drawn-out, complicated transition that could leave existing Chromebook users behind, according to previously unreported court documents in the Google search antitrust case.
The new OS won't be compatible with all existing Chromebook hardware, and Google will be forced to maintain ChromeOS through at least 2033 to honor its 10-year support commitment to current users -- meaning two parallel operating systems running for years.
The timeline itself is messier than Google has let on publicly, the filings suggest. Sameer Samat, Google's head of Android, called the merger "something we're super excited about for next year" last September, but court filings describe the "fastest path" to market as offering Aluminium to "commercial trusted testers" in late 2026 before a full release in 2028.
Enterprise and education customers -- the segments where Chromebooks currently dominate -- are slated for 2028 as well. Columbia computer science professor Jason Nieh, who interviewed Google engineers as a witness in the case, testified that Aluminium requires a heavier software stack and more powerful hardware to run.
The new OS won't be compatible with all existing Chromebook hardware, and Google will be forced to maintain ChromeOS through at least 2033 to honor its 10-year support commitment to current users -- meaning two parallel operating systems running for years.
The timeline itself is messier than Google has let on publicly, the filings suggest. Sameer Samat, Google's head of Android, called the merger "something we're super excited about for next year" last September, but court filings describe the "fastest path" to market as offering Aluminium to "commercial trusted testers" in late 2026 before a full release in 2028.
Enterprise and education customers -- the segments where Chromebooks currently dominate -- are slated for 2028 as well. Columbia computer science professor Jason Nieh, who interviewed Google engineers as a witness in the case, testified that Aluminium requires a heavier software stack and more powerful hardware to run.
RISC Rules Everything Around Me (Score:3)
"The new OS won't be compatible with all existing Chromebook hardware"
Like, too big to fit on the drive incompatible? Or like, we checked a version number and we and our partners have decided that you're too cheap to use our new OS?
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There are two things here. One is getting an OS that can be installed on most computers out there, unlike ChromeOS, which is limited in that area. The other is having either an upgrade path for Chrome OS, or a merge path for ChromeOS into this Android. Ideally, if it can take both, that would be great
One option could be to have different configurations of the OS depending on the resources available. If one is doing it on a barebones Chromebook w/ say, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, then just install
Re:RISC Rules Everything Around Me (Score:5, Interesting)
> There are two things here. One is getting an OS that can be installed on most computers out there, unlike ChromeOS, which is limited in that area
ChromeOS is pretty portable. There have been multiple, successful, projects to create generic installers for it and Google even decided to bless one. ChromeOS is basically a Gentoo fork that's been heavily locked down. The only proprietary part that talks to hardware in the entire system is their display system, which is true of Android too. Google's blessed version is ChromeOS Flex, based upon CloudReady, as a generic installer for PCs.
The issue is very much the opposite: Android is not a very generic operating system at all, built from the ground up and using a patched Linux kernel, so that is going to be hard to port to hardware it wasn't designed for. I've actually been wondering if that's 99% of the motivation for Android for PC: it's not that there's anything wrong with ChromeOS, it does exactly what it's supposed to do, it's that it was too open and open source for an increasingly anti-openness Google.
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The problem with ChromeOS is Google having to maintain two Linux distributions. The only reason it even exists at all is that Chrome for Android was shit at the time at which ChromeOS was released. Its entire purpose for existing is running desktop Chrome on cheap laptops. Now that Chrome for Android is basically OK, it has no reason to exist. Unfortunately for Google they are going to have to support it for another decade, but that support could be pretty bad and probably still meet any notional promises t
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Now that Chrome for Android is basically OK, it has no reason to exist. Unfortunately for Google they are going to have to support it for another decade, but that support could be pretty bad and probably still meet any notional promises they've made.
I kinda wonder if they might offer cheap and/or subsidized hardware upgrades in order to whittle that decade of support down to two or three years. In the end that might cost them less than even shitty support for an obsoleted OS would cost over the next ten years.
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Talking about from a platform standpoint, there are currently only two, potentially three platforms that Android would have to support: Arm, x86 and maybe RISC-V. I understand that Arm has many variants, but they just have to focus on Arm8, and maybe Arm7, depending on how far back they want to support. That would limit the number of vendors to about 3-4 - Qualcomm, AMD, Nvidia, MediaTek, unless other CPU vendors wanted to make their own hardware port of the lower levels of Linux that need to understand e
Re:RISC Rules Everything Around Me (Score:4, Informative)
ChromeOS and Android are both based on Linux, so run on most stuff with a bit of effort. ChromeOS Flex is the version for general computers and is decently compatible.
This seems like a storm in a teacup. They are talking about 5-6 years of overlap, which isn't untypical for this kind of big OS shift. 10 years of support isn't massive either, it's what Microsoft offers for Windows. Support only means fixing security issues and existing bugs.
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10 years of support is good, but if I can switch my 2 Chromebooks to Android versions, I'd much prefer that, so that I can continue to update them until I get to a version that fills up their entire storage. Or unless they croak
It's finally the year of Linux on the desktopâ (Score:1)
Itâ(TM)s finally the year of Linux on the desktop. And it will be locked down so tight that it can only install software that someone else thinks users should be allowed to. At least Microsoft allows users to make choices about what software they run. Maybe this will at least convince more people to try Ubuntu.
Re:It's finally the year of Linux on the desktop (Score:3)
Well, the general public i.e. those not addicted to Apple toys, are at least pretty familiar w/ the Android interface, be it on phones or tablets. It won't be a major leap to have that working for laptops. In fact, an added benefit of that to computer makers: they can now make Arm laptops from various vendors - Qualcomm, Nvidia, AMD (whenever their Arm offering is out) for starters, and any of the other myriad Arm CPU vendors out there. Instead of the x86 duopoly of AMD and Intel
The bulk of people woul
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One thing I'd like Android, or any other Android-based OS to do is give people the option of saving their application data just on local storage or removeable storage, like USB thumb drives or external SSDs, w/o requiring people to upload it to Google Drive or any other. Or alternately, in settings, give people the option of storing it on either a variety of Cloud storage services, or even enter a custom URL of their own cloud storage (if someone has a NAS in one's home network)
As great as that would be, I expect Google to follow Microsoft's lead and increasingly wrest control of all data from users' hands. Tech giants do not want people having control over their own data - they want ALL of it to feed to LLMs and to sell to brokers.
Personal data is to these companies as air is to us. They can't live and thrive without it, because it's what fuels the whole sick ecosystem they've set up.
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That's why I hope Android on PCs is swiftly followed by Lineage on PCs, and options like it. Where people can either have their own app stores, or better yet, whatever software titles they need, just download it directly from the website of those app creators. Maybe have something like a Windows Defender as a part of the OS, so that they don't end up installing malware
What people need to do is to either store their data on their handpicked cloud storage selections. Or if they happen to be the more tech
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That's why I hope Android on PCs is swiftly followed by Lineage on PCs, and options like it.
Thanks for the pleasant thought. I'm ashamed to say that it hadn't occurred to me, given that I use LineageOS on my current phone, and even used Cyanogenmod on its predecessor.
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Since you've admitted that, how is it? For instance, can one go into, say, settings, and enter the URL of any cloud storage provider, such as DropBox, Carbonite or even a custom home NAS one may have rolled out?
If a company that makes Lineage based devices comes up, they could make phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, watches and music players (like Apple did), provide such a solution and people could have devices that would last a lifetime, until they croaked. Such a company could use a Framework model
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Since you've admitted that, how is it? For instance, can one go into, say, settings, and enter the URL of any cloud storage provider, such as DropBox, Carbonite or even a custom home NAS one may have rolled out?
Sadly, no - although that may have more to do with the fact that the phone is a 2017 model. Beyond the ability to tell Google to fuck off, my phone requirements are very modest.
That said, I do have Proton Drive installed. It's an app rather than a setting, so AFAIK it doesn't integrate with the system or with whatever file manager you may prefer. It seems to be rather photo-centric and it's a bit rough around the edges, but it has potential.
I just checked F-Droid for apps that might allow you to use your ow
But why? (Score:4, Interesting)
Columbia computer science professor Jason Nieh, who interviewed Google engineers as a witness in the case, testified that Aluminium requires a heavier software stack and more powerful hardware to run.
This just doesn't make sense. We're supposed to believe that the software now running on phones requires more hardware than the software now running on laptops?
Re:But why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Columbia computer science professor Jason Nieh, who interviewed Google engineers as a witness in the case, testified that Aluminium requires a heavier software stack and more powerful hardware to run.
This just doesn't make sense. We're supposed to believe that the software now running on phones requires more hardware than the software now running on laptops?
I'm convinced Google is run by idiots. Look at ChromeOS Flex. With just a few tweaks, with the allowance of just a few desktop apps, Google would have a wide-open opportunity to make a serious run at Microsoft's home PC dominance because of the whole Windows 11 requirements issue. There are millions upon millions of perfectly good computers that are now going to landfills because of that, and they could all have Flex running on them if it wasn't for Google's short-sighted strategy. You can't even watch a DVD on Flex after Google shitcanned VideoLan from their approved apps list. They insist you use only Google stuff via the cloud. Such a damn wasted opportunity since Flex is easy to install and use otherwise, and a fairly pleasant user experience.
Re:But why? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Needs alcohol and a good snack table to approach a Mensa gathering... (long time member here)
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I'm convinced Google is run by idiots.
Yes, very likely. They were somewhat innovative for a while and they got really lucky with the timing when they launched search. But that is essentially the amount of their contribution. These days, they are a cult and cults are 100% idiots. Google is no exception.
As a side note, I had a look at some research papers by Google. These people did supposedly hire the best and the brightest? No way. That trash would have been soundly rejected by the reviewers if it did not have the name Google on it. No bling re
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Yes, probably. Although I was at a google talk / recruitment event with one of the founders giving a talk before they were big, and they gave me creepy cult vibes even back then. True, I was only moderately interested and it took me a 5 minute walk to be there, but still. My guess is the real reason the went mainly for "highly intelligent but inexperienced" is that more experienced people and people that actually see the world would not want to work for them.
Incidentally, I did go though their broken hiring
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NOTHING makes sense! If they want to merge them both why call one Android and one Aluminium? Now they're having "desktop mode" in Android that supports keyboard and mouse, and is intended for really all display sizes, from small portable monitors to large TVs and anything in between. Just say "Android" and call it a day, it's probably the most popular OS out there anyway, take advantage of the network effect.
Microsoft tried to call their thing Windows Mobile _number_, Windows _number_ Mobile, and Windows Ph
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Many Chromebooks are quite low end, especially in the RAM department. They often have quite small EMMC drives as well, like 32GB. That needs to store the OS and some apps, and some user data.
By the time this new OS comes out, I can see that 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage won't be enough to run it decently, if at all.
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I'm sure you will be able to unofficially load the new OS onto your hardware.
Should We Care? (Score:5, Insightful)
Will it be anything worthwhile? Or will it be another tiny niche Google walled garden, eclipsed by Windows, MacOS, Linux...
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Given that the project will likely be dead within 3 years of launch, I do not think we should care.
Messy and Controversial (Score:5, Funny)
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The controversy will arise from the spelling of Aluminum
Who cares. The only people who spell it that way are still using Imperial measurements. We've moved on to arguing over how to pronounce GIF. (It's 'jiff' BTW)
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... We've moved on to arguing over how to pronounce GIF. (It's 'jiff' BTW)
Yep. Just like its original creator claimed. It's his creation. He named it and told people how to pronounce it. I respect him and his work.
Re: Messy and Controversial (Score:2)
So how do you pronounce "SCUBA"... like sc-uh-bæ or "LASER" like "lasseer" then?
the Chromebook reset (Score:1)
Metallic (Score:2)
Is it called Aluminium or Aluminum? It's already controversial.
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I thought it was called Fuchsia, but I guess that was too effeminate for today's culture...
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They shoulld have asked me; I'd call it Tritium, because it is lightweight, and has halflife of 12 years.
How many illegal monopolies does Google want? (Score:3)
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Well, in this case, there is already a Microsoft and Apple duopoly. Google is the third player
Right now, nobody can really play in Apple's space, w/o installing Linux and probably voiding the warranty. On PCs, Microsoft currently has the monopoly - again aside from Linux and the BSDs, and fringe OSs like KolibriOS, Haiku,.... So if Google adds this - be it Android or ChromeOS Flex, they'll just be the third player
This should be completely legal, given who else is playing. Also, if Google wants to ma
Sounds like bad software architecture... (Score:2)
Well, it is Google, so not much of a surprise. They are more and more going the way of Microsoft.
What is the big fat hairy deal with AluminiumOS? (Score:2)
I don't get it. Google already has two OSes on their hands. What's this AluminiumOS thing? It it an own development or just yet another rebranded Linux? And why are they doing this? Or is it just Chrome OS renamed? Or a more sophisticated merger between 'droid and ChromeOS with some new name?
I genuinely want to know, so please enlighten me.
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It's pretty simple. Aluminium (yes, the non-US spelling is what they are using) is Google's unification of ChromeOS and Android, by placing a ChromeOS-like interface and other compatibility facilities on top of an Android base. That's it.
Then they can (eventually) discontinue ChromeOS and have one Android core with two "personalities" running on Phones and laptops.
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So will that Aluminium OS support the same Android apps on the Chromebooks, once ChromeOS gets replaced? Right now, some, but not all, Android apps run on the ChromeOS Play Store. Will that be merged in this OS?
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Nothing makes sense. They started to supposedly merge Android and Chrome OS in 2024, didn't do much on Android except to fiddle with a desktop mode that's better than nothing but still really bad. And they didn't do much on ChromeOS (and can't really make it too Android-y without alienating the customers they have and use it, especially in education).
My theory is that they realised at some point they overcommitted with these and will just polish a little both Android and ChromeOS (rename it to AL...OS too)
It's easy to have a 10-year support guarantee (Score:2)
It's easy to have a 10-year support guarantee for current customers when the batteries in Chromebooks only last for 3 years.
I have a box full of dead Chromebooks that are still not at their 10-year support guarantee.