I was very disappointed a few weeks ago to learn that Google Cloud Print will be no longer be supported after the end of this month. I expect that all Chromebook users and many others are equally disappointed.

I travel a lot and I also own a Chromebook. This inexpensive laptop has become my favorite traveling computer. In fact, this article is being written on a Chromebook sitting on the dining room table at a friend's house in Massachusetts. (I have been on the road for 2 weeks but will return home this coming weekend.)

I normally do not travel with a printer. Instead, for the occasional printing need when traveling, I have used Google Cloud Print to print documents on my home printer from the Chromebook, no matter where I am in the world. Of course, I cannot pick up  the printout until I return home but that is normally wjhat I need anyway. I typically do not need the printed document whike still traveling.

In fact, I find Google Cloud Print. so useful that I have configured my other computers to also print via the same method.

Of course, Chromebook users weren't the only ones to use Google Cloud Print. So did millions of other laptop users, including those using Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Android, and Apple iOS laptops, tablet computers, or smartphones, all of which could print by using Google Cloud Print.

After being available for about ten years, Google recently announced that the Google Cloud Print. service will no longer be supported after December 31, 2020. Now I and thousands of other traveling computer users are left high and dry without printing capabilities. Or are we?

An article by Barclay Ballard in the TechRadar Pro web site may be the best source for information about remote printing. Ballard points out:

"Chrome OS has its own native printing solutions for Wi-Fi, CUPS, and local printing devices. Microsoft also launched its own Universal Print service earlier this year, while HP has its own cloud-based print offering.

"Other options that could be worth exploring may be found in Google Chrome’s collection of extensions. Plug-ins like EveryonePrint, may not have a major name like Google behind them, but they will be working hard to capture more market share by attracting former Google Cloud Print users."

You can find the article, including links to resources on other web sites, at: https://www.techradar.com/news/users-left-distraught-as-google-cloud-print-set-to-bite-the-dust.