Google Wants to Turn Your Old Mac into a Chromebook With Chrome OS Flex

[ahurst]

I also remember how fast my MacBook early 2008 became obsolete. No software even supports Lion anymore (the last supported OS on that MacBook) and also even High Sierra is becoming obsolete.
I don't understand his logic. Of course you have to upgrade when possible.

I used a laptop running Lion well into 2015, and after that a laptop running El Capitan up until late last fall. They were both at the point of no longer receiving security updates, but they still had supported modern web browsers (Firefox) and apart from Homebrew being a pain about older OSes, they did everything I needed them to do and got me through an undergrad, a master’s, and a number of freelance programming gigs.

Of course I’ve also been a PowerPC Mac nerd for ages, so I’m used to working around incompatibilities with older macOS versions 🙂

 

[saulinpa]

Google is being disingenuous saying to save old Mac hardware while they don't support old Chromebook hardware. You have to go to third parties to get a shim loader like CloudReady - https://www.neverware.com/freedownload#intro-text.

 

[cbrown72701]

Ouch! That’s gotta be kind of embarrassing for Apple. They won’t support old yet viable hardware, whereas Google will.

I don't have features in my old car like in my new one and I can't upgrade my old car to support them. But, I can still drive it around and use it for what I need. I also have an old white MacBook that can't be upgraded to support what I run on my newer MacBook Pro. But, the old MacBook is still a viable machine for routine things like email, web browsing, messaging, Facebook and a number of other things.

 

[miq]

Rather kill myself.

Go on then.

 

[Mr. Heckles]

“Install Chrome OS Flex on your PCs and Macs so they are secure…”

“Secure” from the company whose business model is based entirely on user data mining, LOL!

There is a difference between security and privacy, but I still wouldn’t use this. I’ll put Linux on an old computer.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

For some reason, all this seems too sketchy and I feel like this is not secured at all.

 

[BeefCake 15]

Frankly I'd consider Linux first as they do with my PCs before resorting to ChromeOS.

 

[sracer]

Frankly I'd consider Linux first as they do with my PCs before resorting to ChromeOS.

Those are two significantly different paths. Chrome OS is great as a computing appliance. Linux is great as a general purpose computing platform.

 

[Six0Four]

All these years and chromeOS still doesnt have a dark mode.

 

[andrewxgx]

All these years and chromeOS still doesnt have a dark mode.

google privacy policies are shady enough

 

[PDavidAlexander]

Ouch! That’s gotta be kind of embarrassing for Apple. They won’t support old yet viable hardware, whereas Google will.

One of the big reasons Windows was such a piece of **** for so long is that Microsoft felt they had to make it backwards compatible with every old piece of hardware in existence. Apple doesn’t. They realize, to move forward, sometimes you have to leave old stuff behind. As another reader noted, his older car runs just fine, but it doesn’t have the fancy tech that the newest version of the car has.

Until just a few years ago, we had an old PowerMac that was probably 15 years old sitting next to a mop bucket in a closet. It was attached to a monitor on the other side of the wall where clients could check email or surf the web. Worked beautifully for that, but I would never expect it to run MacOS Monterey. Macs are great machines that run for years, but at some point you gotta move on.

 

[Spock]

I wonder how google would feel if Apple openly marketed installing macOS or some variant of it on chrome books.

They wouldn't care.. They make money with ads and services and I am sure that just about every Mac user has to use some kind of Google service. Its why they pay Apple so much money to be the default search engine.

 

[Somian]

I guess the question why anyone would do this is answered best with "Since some people, especially schools, have committed all in to ChromeOS.... for whatever reason."

The move isn't that stupid. A lot of schools have old outdated Macs around that don't get new updates anymore, and this way Google can make a quick bank on those machines without having to sell a single Unit, and those schools can migrate their Mac fleet to ChromeOS, which they already run on the newer machines they have.

Even more "interesting" .... considering Linux for Apple Silicon is a a thing and progressing steadily, it's not that far fetched to actually see it running on M1 MBAs in the not too distant future. Might even be the best option you'll eventually have if you want to give your kid an actually decent notebook that still complies with ChromeOS being required to run on it.

Maybemaybe this will make Apple think about offering new versions of MacOS for older hardware. Really looks kinda bad if Google can make modern software run on old Macs ... but Apple "can't". (I mean... we know that they can. They just don't want to.)

I guess the one question more people should ask is: "Should we really entrust the data of children and elderly people to Google?"

No, we should not. And I agree. Why can Google do this and Apple can’t? I think the answer is that Google can monetize on this while Apple has no incentive to support older Macs (since their revenue comes from selling new Macs whereas Googles revenue comes from mining user data.) apple has no incentive to support their older hardware.

Apple needs to up their game. Even the oldest intel macs can still run Windows 10 with a modern browser. That’s the only way to continue using them properly, accessing the internet.

Its an issue. If you buy a Mac you get a few years of macOS but eventually you need to switch to Windows or linux or something once your “trial” ends since OS support is always shorter than the product lifetime should be.

Even financial reasons aside, buying a new machine just because of ending software “support” shouldn’t be a thing. Just consider the environmental aspects. It’s perfectly valid to use, say, a 2008 iMac if you only need the internet and do other light tasks. But now people that use it have to switch to windows/linux and now potentially this Google thing.

I’m a Mac user because of macOS but for people In my family (that often use my old machines when I hand them down), Macs are seen as some weird machines that come with a useless OS and the first thing to do is install windows on them.

Which hurts because they’re still good machines.

 

[Alwis]

Frankly I'd consider Linux first as they do with my PCs before resorting to ChromeOS.

I am still using my old MacBook Pro from late 2009 with Linux, e.g. for testing purposes. It is certainly noticeably slower than current Macs, but still perfectly usable for this purpose.

I would never consider using a OS from Google on a computer with personal data, as I would never consider using Android phones for the same reason.

 

[gank41]

Google is being disingenuous saying to save old Mac hardware while they don't support old Chromebook hardware. You have to go to third parties to get a shim loader like CloudReady - https://www.neverware.com/freedownload#intro-text.

CloudReady was purchased by Google

Google acquires Neverware, a firm that turns old PCs into Chromebooks

Google has acquired Neverware, a company that turns old PCs into Chromebooks, for an undisclosed sum.

www.business-standard.com

 

[Razorpit]

Windows on an old Mac? That’s going in the wrong direction (my main computer is running Windows 11 so I’m not anti-Microsoft or anti-Windows).

This is a great solution if you need mostly internet-based features (like a Chromebook). A lot of K-12 is based around Google Docs and other websites. ChromeOS is fine. Most of the issues with it are due to poor quality hardware. I have two higher-end Chromebooks that work well (other than terrible WiFi adapters in them but that is not an issue unique to Chromebooks).

Having a light OS like ChromeOS will extend the life of many computers. I install Linux as my computers age, including on my 10+ year old Mac Mini. An SSD and Linux on that makes it run smoothly and with current security updates and features (which I don’t get sticking with OS X). It is also much more responsive than putting Windows on it, which I've tried.

Define "run well". 😆

 

[chetzar]

I might actually try this on my old iMac I use in the Garage. Don't really need MacOS for that computer (which is stuck at High Sierra). I only use it for pulling up PDF car manuals and ordering parts, listening to Spotify, etc.

 

[ericinboston]

Why? Why would anyone do this?

My guess is because there comes a point in time when Apple stops updating the OS on the older Macs AND therefore you don't get basic updates like Safari or other non-Apple apps.

Apple has essentially killed some of my older macs after about 4+ years of ownership because I cannot update Safari and even non-Apple apps like Firefox refuse to install on an older Mac thanks to the lack of a relatively current OS.

Google is likely solving this annoyance by giving the owner a different OS with Chrome (extremely popular but I prefer Firefox), and will likely work for 5+ more years after installation.

The #1 or #2 uses of any personal computer are internet surfing. Apple essentially kills that feature after 4-5 years of ownership and then you need to go buy a new Mac. Yes, you could still use your 5+ year old browser, but it's very likely the experience is going to be terrible.

 

[Orange Bat]

I think this stuff is great. Schools don’t generally need top-of-the-line hardware, and this could allow some underfunded schools a way to modernize with older computers. It also makes older hardware work for a few more years. I myself have some old computers that I have been planning on installing a lightweight Linux OS meant to run on older machines. We get so hung-up on “newer” and “faster” that we forget that many 10 year old computers are still pretty soldi machines that can handle most peoples’ computing tasks. Perhaps Apple should consider doing something similar and create a lightweight OS specifically for the education market that uses its own apps. It makes a ton of sense.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Frankly I'd consider Linux first as they do with my PCs before resorting to ChromeOS.

Yeah, and I'm sure kids in elementary school can grasp Linux as easy as ChromeOS... /s

 

[citysnaps]

This. Running an old unsupported OS on a device with Internet isn't a good idea.

And running a Google OS on your Mac is far worse.

 

[reyesmac]

Cool idea, lets see how well its implemented. There are many old macs that can run much newer version of windows than mac os, and it turns what is a hobbled machine incapable of running newer software into one that can. If more effort was put in to keeping old machines afloat that would give Apple a run for its money because that means less people would upgrade as fast. Its a great strategy but I doubt any company will put much effort into such a thing.

 

[kobochi]

What's the supported Macs? I've got G4 and G5. 😁

 

[dwaltwhit]

My '09 27 inch imac runs great with High Sierra as well as upgraded ram and ssd. Safari and firefox both run without issue. How old is "old"?

 

[shyam09]

Also without recent security updates.

Genuine question - if you don't do shady **** and just use it for basic tasks (like shopping from legit retailers, email, YouTube, word processing, blah blah) - do security updates really matter?