For the past 16 years or so, Google and its partners have been building and shipping ChromeOS laptops. It doesn’t seem like there are plans to slow down, but as it turns out, ChromeOS might actually have an expiration date.
ChromeOS has an expiration date
According to a report from The Verge, they discovered in court transcripts during the Google search antitrust case that ChromeOS has an expiration date set for 2034. The transcripts included comments from Google’s head of Android, Sameer Samat, who was asked if the company was planning to launch Project Aluminium in 2026. Samat did not confirm the launch date, except to say that “We hope so. We’re working hard on it.”
But why does this matter? It matters because if and when Project Aluminium is released, what does this mean for existing Chromebook devices? Google is required to maintain ChromeOS until at least 2033, to meet its “10 year support commitment.” After that, it seems that Google plans to phase out ChromeOS in 2034.
Assuming this timeline is accurate and still on track, barring no delays to the release of Project Aluminum, it means that ChromeOS still has about 8 years left of support. This is quite a long time, which is good news for existing and new customers.
What is Project Aluminum?
Just in case you’re learning about Project Aluminium for the first time, this is an upcoming OS that will combine Android and ChromeOS into a unified operating system. Given that ChromeOS already supports Android apps, this merger makes sense.
However, ChromeOS was designed to run on low-end hardware. This means that Project Aluminium might not be a possible update path. This means that users need to upgrade to a new computer rather than update an existing one. Since not everyone might see the need to upgrade, Google will have to continue supporting ChromeOS. Even after the release of Project Aluminium.
In any case, there’s still quite a long way to go before ChromeOS hits its expiry date. Google also hasn’t provided a concrete release date for Aluminium. Hopefully, the company will have more details to share at I/O, which is expected to take place in the coming months.
The post ChromeOS Has an Expiration Date: This Is Google’s Plan appeared first on Android Headlines.
