By Sean Hollister
Publication Date: 2026-02-03 13:00:00
“Finally.” That was my first reaction when I heard Google would combine Android and ChromeOS into a single operating system. Android has long struggled on tablets, and ChromeOS always felt like too much of a stripped-down alternative to tempt me away from Windows and Mac. So last week, it was exciting to see a leaked first glimpse at Google’s Aluminium OS, and hear it may already be slated for an Intel Panther Lake laptop dubbed “Ruby” and a “Sapphire” high-end tablet.
But the future may not be coming as fast as you’d think, and it might be messy when it gets here. According to previously unreported court documents in the Google search antitrust case, Aluminium won’t see a full release until 2028.
Though Google’s head of Android, Sameer Samat, said last September that the combination of Android and Chrome is “something we’re super excited about for next year” — meaning 2026 — the documents suggest Aluminium won’t be ready to change the laptop world…
