4 ms·

"some of its future models would run on a next-gen version of its in-house operating system built on top of Android Automotive. It's a big change from previous

"some of its future models would run on a next-gen version of its in-house operating system built on top of Android Automotive. It's a big change from previous Linux-based versions, though the company says some of its cars will stay on its legacy build." Seems a lot more limited than the title hints at. Is the word legacy from BMW? They may continue to improve the Linux version so I would not call it legacy until it gets fazed out.

izacus 4y ago
Most car companies don't "continue to improve" their software and that's probably what will happen here - they'll just stop updating those head units and leave them behind.
- bluGill 4y ago
  That isn't quite right. Most companies continue to improve software, they just don't release updates. They fix minor bugs and add new features, but you can't get at that without buying a new car as they don't provide means to do updates. (major bugs trigger a recall, sometimes everyone gets the latest, sometimes they apply the fix to each branch) They might use the same hardware for 20 years (in that time at least a few parts will go obsolete to be replaced with something functionally identical), but if yours breaks you will get that hardware with the version of software released for your car even though the software from a later model year would run on the same computer and have more features. Note that just because the software will run doesn't mean the system will. Sometimes they change network interfaces in incompatible ways so the whole car will not work in some way which could be major or minor depending.
  - cstejerean 4y ago
    When was that? Right now all 3 of my cars provide over the air software updates, because all 3 have cellular modems for things like remote lock/unlock or remote start. Even before this the previous generation Dodge I had could be software updated via a USB stick.
    - bluGill 4y ago
      Only select things get those updates. I doubt the engine code gets changed.

izacus 4y ago

Most car companies don't "continue to improve" their software and that's probably what will happen here - they'll just stop updating those head units and leave them behind.

bluGill 4y ago
That isn't quite right. Most companies continue to improve software, they just don't release updates. They fix minor bugs and add new features, but you can't get at that without buying a new car as they don't provide means to do updates. (major bugs trigger a recall, sometimes everyone gets the latest, sometimes they apply the fix to each branch) They might use the same hardware for 20 years (in that time at least a few parts will go obsolete to be replaced with something functionally identical), but if yours breaks you will get that hardware with the version of software released for your car even though the software from a later model year would run on the same computer and have more features. Note that just because the software will run doesn't mean the system will. Sometimes they change network interfaces in incompatible ways so the whole car will not work in some way which could be major or minor depending.
- cstejerean 4y ago
  When was that? Right now all 3 of my cars provide over the air software updates, because all 3 have cellular modems for things like remote lock/unlock or remote start. Even before this the previous generation Dodge I had could be software updated via a USB stick.
  - bluGill 4y ago
    Only select things get those updates. I doubt the engine code gets changed.