WASHINGTON, Feb 4, 2026, 05:15 EST
- Court filings point to a 2034 phase-out of Google’s ChromeOS as the company shifts Chromebooks toward an Android-based successor.
- The documents sketch a late-2026 limited test and a 2028 full release for “Project Aluminium,” including for education and enterprise users.
- Separate court orders in the U.S. search case carve ChromeOS and any successor out of some restrictions on Google’s distribution deals.
Google plans to phase out its ChromeOS laptop software in 2034 as it shifts Chromebooks toward an Android-based replacement, according to court filings tied to the U.S. search antitrust case.
The timeline matters for school districts and companies that buy Chromebooks in bulk and keep them for years. A slower handover raises practical questions: which machines will get the new software, and which will be stuck on the old track until support ends.
It also lands in the middle of a legal fight over how Google can pay for default placement and bundle its own apps. The same court record that spells out the operating-system shift also describes where judges are drawing lines on what Google can require from device makers.
Project Aluminium — Google’s effort to merge ChromeOS and Android — is set for “commercial trusted testers” in late 2026, a limited early-access program aimed at business customers, before a full release in 2028, filings cited by The Verge showed. Asked in an August 2025 transcript about a 2026 launch, Android chief Sameer Samat replied: “We hope so. We’re working hard on it.” Theverge
The documents warn the new system will not work on all existing Chromebook hardware, meaning Google would have to keep ChromeOS going through at least 2033 to meet its “10 year support commitment,” according to 9to5Google. The outlet also reported the filings set a “timeline to phase out ChromeOS” in 2034 and described Aluminium as “ChromeOS” built on the Android stack. 9To5Google
Google VP John Maletis, who leads product management for ChromeOS, said in an online Q&A that the company had extended Chromebook support “from 7 years to 10 years” and was “maintaining that commitment” as the platform evolves, Android Authority reported. The same reporting cited court language saying Google cannot end ChromeOS earlier because “jurisdictions have various rules for how long a device must be supported.” Androidauthority
The antitrust case could shape how Google’s existing restrictions apply to that successor platform. In the final judgment, the court defined “device” for several limits as smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops — while explicitly excluding any device running “the ChromeOS operating system or a successor to the ChromeOS operating system.” Courtlistener
In a December opinion explaining those remedies, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta wrote that Chrome is “a necessary component of a ChromeOS device” and noted that Chrome and ChromeOS are so integrated Google has not yet been able to separate them. That reasoning helped justify carving ChromeOS devices out of some limits on Google’s agreements with manufacturers. Courtlistener
For Google, pushing Chromebooks toward an Android-based base would tie its PC effort more closely to the software it already maintains for phones. ChromeOS has built a foothold in education and some workplaces, but Windows and Apple’s Mac still dominate most personal-computer markets.
But the switch could get messy. If large numbers of older Chromebooks cannot take Aluminium, schools and IT departments could be left running mixed fleets for years, with two operating systems to patch, secure and support.
The legal side stays unsettled too. Appeals, new remedies, or a different view of what counts as a “successor” platform could still shift what Google is allowed to bundle by default and how much freedom rivals get on any new Google-built desktop system.
Google has not put a public end date on ChromeOS. The court record now sketches one anyway — and a long overlap before it arrives.
