Chrome OS will now update more often than before

The best Chromebook
(Image credit: Future)

Google has decided to switch Chrome OS to a speedier four-week update release cycle, once again moving it in line with its Chrome web browser.

The announcement comes a few months after Google decided to put Chrome on a faster update trajectory with new milestone releases every four weeks instead of six.

The changes to the Chrome browser will kick in with the release of Chrome 94 in Q3 2021. In a blog post, Chrome OS release TPM lead Marina Kazatcker said that in order to sync the accelerated schedules of Chrome OS with Chrome, the default OS on the Chromebooks will forgo its M95 release.

“To deliver new features more rapidly to consumers while also continuing to prioritize the key pillars of Chrome OS—security, stability, speed and simplicity—Chrome OS will move to a four-week stable channel starting with M96 in Q4,” announced Kazatcker.

Incremental changes

From Kazatcker’s post it appears the change in the schedule has been done in view of the increased pace of security incidents. Cutting down the delivery of updates by two weeks will help Google push security updates earlier than before.

“As we head into our next decade, these changes enable us to evolve Chrome OS to keep helping people get things done and to provide more helpful and secure experiences,” wrote Kazatcker. 

However, just as it announced with the faster Chrome updates, Google will also have a new slower update channel for enterprise users that will offer a six-month release cycle. Kazatcker will be sharing more details about the enterprise release cycle in due course.

Via Gizmodo

TOPICS
Mayank Sharma

With almost two decades of writing and reporting on Linux, Mayank Sharma would like everyone to think he’s TechRadar Pro’s expert on the topic. Of course, he’s just as interested in other computing topics, particularly cybersecurity, cloud, containers, and coding.