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I wonder how many of these are the Arm-based Chromebooks? Do those have similar problems with software updates to Android devices, because they're at the mercy

I wonder how many of these are the Arm-based Chromebooks? Do those have similar problems with software updates to Android devices, because they're at the mercy of SoC vendors to provide updated drivers?

resoluteteeth 4y ago
Chromebooks don't really have that type of problem because they only have specific motherboards and the updates come from google They're much better than android devices in that sense They have a fixed date where they stop receiving updates (eight years from when the model is released) but they are guaranteed to receive updates until then
- Mistletoe 4y ago
  And then after a few years the updates stop coming from Google and you can't even use it to watch streaming because the Chrome version number is too low. I will never buy another Chromebox or Chromebook again for this reason. I've got perfectly functioning devices that can't do anything because of this.
  - resoluteteeth 4y ago
    It's eight years from when the model is released so as long as you pay attention and don't buy a model that's already old at the time you buy it it's not too bad. On many devices you can unlock the bootloader and install a third party chromeos distribution (or linux) after that if you really want, too 8 years is MUCH better than basically all android devices although it's probably worse than windows on a normal laptop, and you're guaranteed updates during that period The browser is in the process of being decoupled from the os version (it's in beta right now and you can opt in I think) so in the future even if you stop getting updates you'll be able to update the browser to fix the problem you're describing ("you can't even use it to watch streaming because the Chrome version number is too low"). If your chrome os devices are just past their lifetime and have enough storage, you may be able to opt into that and keep using them now actually I think in the case of schools, 8 years is probably longer than they would expect to keep using laptops anyway.
  - notatoad 4y ago
    >And then after a few years the updates stop coming from Google yes, but that's part of the deal when you buy the things. it's frustrating as an individual user, but for large purchasers like schools it's a selling point to have guaranteed software and firmware updates going to a known date that you can trust. they'll be implementing a device purchase plan with a fixed lifespan anyways, so as long as they know the EOL is later than their end date, it's fine. and fwiw, my old chromebook that's been EOL for four years still seems to be working fine. it's slow AF, but it works. https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366?hl=en https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366?hl=en

resoluteteeth 4y ago

Chromebooks don't really have that type of problem because they only have specific motherboards and the updates come from google They're much better than android devices in that sense They have a fixed date where they stop receiving updates (eight years from when the model is released) but they are guaranteed to receive updates until then

Mistletoe 4y ago
And then after a few years the updates stop coming from Google and you can't even use it to watch streaming because the Chrome version number is too low. I will never buy another Chromebox or Chromebook again for this reason. I've got perfectly functioning devices that can't do anything because of this.
- resoluteteeth 4y ago
  It's eight years from when the model is released so as long as you pay attention and don't buy a model that's already old at the time you buy it it's not too bad. On many devices you can unlock the bootloader and install a third party chromeos distribution (or linux) after that if you really want, too 8 years is MUCH better than basically all android devices although it's probably worse than windows on a normal laptop, and you're guaranteed updates during that period The browser is in the process of being decoupled from the os version (it's in beta right now and you can opt in I think) so in the future even if you stop getting updates you'll be able to update the browser to fix the problem you're describing ("you can't even use it to watch streaming because the Chrome version number is too low"). If your chrome os devices are just past their lifetime and have enough storage, you may be able to opt into that and keep using them now actually I think in the case of schools, 8 years is probably longer than they would expect to keep using laptops anyway.
- notatoad 4y ago
  >And then after a few years the updates stop coming from Google yes, but that's part of the deal when you buy the things. it's frustrating as an individual user, but for large purchasers like schools it's a selling point to have guaranteed software and firmware updates going to a known date that you can trust. they'll be implementing a device purchase plan with a fixed lifespan anyways, so as long as they know the EOL is later than their end date, it's fine. and fwiw, my old chromebook that's been EOL for four years still seems to be working fine. it's slow AF, but it works. https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366?hl=en https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366?hl=en