I know plenty of people who use Apple products such as iPhones and Macs and have to stop using them and throw them into landfill basically because there are no further security updates, although the device works fine and is fast enough for their needs.

Shortening security updates absolutely has an environmental impact.

But you get less functionality, and have to hack into it even if you can to make it your own.

They're even worse for browsing, as you can only install addons and adblockers allowed by Google, which are deliberately gimped.

At least we get to enjoy freedom on our PCs - the smartphone-ification of computers is a worrying trend (this applies to games consoles too).

He already has a PS5 and so doesn’t need the laptop for anything more than running Chrome.

In the end I managed to repurpose an existing laptop. But a Chromebook was a serious consideration for a little while.

What are you using?

> For qualifying devices purchased today whose 10-year support lifecycle extends beyond 2034, Google is committed to supporting your transition to Googlebook OS, with many devices offering direct migration paths

The word "many" feels like it's pretty much explicitly saying it's not "all". If it's not "all" then I'd say the promises were broken.

I also can't find anything online to do with what they're going to do to Chrome OS Flex, so thank goodness I didn't set it up for my mum who was sick to death of Windows 11.

Not a great comparison, since iOS 16 (not 26) received a security update just a few months ago.

https://grapheneos.org/faq#device-lifetime

It doesn't seem like they are ending support for updated software on these devices before 10 years, it will just be different software.