End of Life update expiration
xttwo2
Member Posts: 31 Die Hard 
My Chromebook has reached it's end-of-life update expiration. All the searches on the topic basically suggest that if that is in some way bothersome; one simply should buy a new laptop that is likely more energy efficient as new models tend to be; and come with a fresh set of years of updates. My question is why? It's one thing to routinely buy a cellphone. Cellphones break; freezeup or suffer some sort of issue that requires a person to go not too far to the local store and buy a new one. Which I've done a number of times throughout the years. But a laptop for me is a big deal. Besides the one I'm using; I've only bought one other new laptop and that was 30 years ago. Used; second hand; off the scrap heap. I've gotten laptops every which way from all types of people. But buying a new laptop is a unique experience; particularly since I'm one that's never had the money to buy laptops new. I've gotten attached to it. It helped me get a job after all the time I spent unemployed. I went through an issue with a disappearing cursor making my laptop somewhat unusable until an auto-update magically fixed it. Another issue when I tried installing an app that I normally have on my phone; created a problem that quickly went away after deleting it from the system. After that I realized so long as I kept my laptop clean; it would last forever. Clean meaning only using it for social media; web browsing; e-commerce; watching movies on Google Play or writing posts on this website.
Why doesn't Google enable chromebook users a way to keep their systems up-to-date on their own; regardless of any automatic feature? Because that's too "Microsoftish"? Microsoft Windows for all it's flaws has no user end-of-life issue where the only way you can get new updates to software and security features is by buying a new machine. Or has that changed too?
Seems weird to me but whatever. It is what it is. What would the world of commerce really be if people weren't forced in some way (implictitly or explicitly) to buy something new. Even if what you have you like and still works. My doctrine on my laptop is simple. Cross the bridge when you come to it. Now and then I use my computer to do various tasks; the rest of the time; it stays relatively dust free inside my backpack. Along with my other sensitive items. Birth Certificate; social security and COVID-19 vaccination record card.
Why doesn't Google enable chromebook users a way to keep their systems up-to-date on their own; regardless of any automatic feature? Because that's too "Microsoftish"? Microsoft Windows for all it's flaws has no user end-of-life issue where the only way you can get new updates to software and security features is by buying a new machine. Or has that changed too?
Seems weird to me but whatever. It is what it is. What would the world of commerce really be if people weren't forced in some way (implictitly or explicitly) to buy something new. Even if what you have you like and still works. My doctrine on my laptop is simple. Cross the bridge when you come to it. Now and then I use my computer to do various tasks; the rest of the time; it stays relatively dust free inside my backpack. Along with my other sensitive items. Birth Certificate; social security and COVID-19 vaccination record card.
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Best Answers
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>>>All the searches on the topic basically suggest that if that is in some way bothersome; one simply should buy a new laptop>>>Cross the bridge when you come to it.>>>Yep. I like updates that fix real problems. But most auto updates seem to fix imaginary, obscure, or far-fetched potential problems along with a risk of causing real collateral problems on an otherwise perfectly functional machine. So I currently find auto updating more bothersome & fearsome than no updating. If/when that situation changes, I might consider something new like you.
Jack E/NJ
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Google decided to save some on programming costs by dropping support for older hardware on a fixed schedule, so users could plan ahead for it. There's not a lot of down side to them, since most users update their laptops just like phone users do, but it does cause consternation among users who keep their machines longer. It's not a real problem though, since the OS still work fine for quite a long time after support is dropped. You just don't get new features and security updates, and the biggest risk of those is in security updates. If you are a fairly safe user already it's not that big of a risk.
Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.0
Answers
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>>>All the searches on the topic basically suggest that if that is in some way bothersome; one simply should buy a new laptop>>>Cross the bridge when you come to it.>>>Yep. I like updates that fix real problems. But most auto updates seem to fix imaginary, obscure, or far-fetched potential problems along with a risk of causing real collateral problems on an otherwise perfectly functional machine. So I currently find auto updating more bothersome & fearsome than no updating. If/when that situation changes, I might consider something new like you.
Jack E/NJ
0 -
Google decided to save some on programming costs by dropping support for older hardware on a fixed schedule, so users could plan ahead for it. There's not a lot of down side to them, since most users update their laptops just like phone users do, but it does cause consternation among users who keep their machines longer. It's not a real problem though, since the OS still work fine for quite a long time after support is dropped. You just don't get new features and security updates, and the biggest risk of those is in security updates. If you are a fairly safe user already it's not that big of a risk.
Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.0 -
xttwo2 said:My Chromebook has reached it's end-of-life update expiration.
The best solution:
https://support.google.com/chromebook/thread/165794614/got-a-message-that-i-would-no-longer-get-updates-and-to-buy-newer-device-now-no-wi-fi?hl=enType chrome: //flags/#lacros-support into your browserAllow it to be a primary and to be updated.0
