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I am struggling to think of a reason why I would want to run Chrome OS instead of macOS, Windows, or Linux. Then again, I've never understood the appeal of Chro

I am struggling to think of a reason why I would want to run Chrome OS instead of macOS, Windows, or Linux. Then again, I've never understood the appeal of Chromebooks to begin with.

JeremyNT 5y ago
Versus Mac and Windows, it's free. On all platforms, it's presumably lower maintenance. These advantages probably mostly add up if you have a lot of "dumb" kiosk type systems, like in a classroom setting, where children are already often given Chromium appliances rather than general purpose computers.
jug 5y ago
It’s a way to consume the web — an ever larger and growing share of where you do or can do your work, consume entertainment and socialize — with a modern and up-to-date browser on computers that may no longer be supported by Microsoft or Apple.
crb 5y ago
There have been zero reported ransomware attacks on Chrome OS. If you're in a hospital, for example, and all you do is interact with a backend running on an intranet site, that might be a big advantage to you.
Shadonototra 5y ago
macOS/windows are outdated the world is running Android/iOS/Chrome, chromeOS makes sense since it removes the OS from the equation, you are accessing the web directly, local or public For developers, it doesn't make much sense, but for the rest of the world, it is perfect
- alienthrowaway 5y ago
  > For developers, it doesn't make much sense, but for the rest of the world, it is perfect Developer chiming in - ChromeOS makes a lot of sense since the launch of Linux VMs (aka Crostini)[0]. I get full access to Linux tools & VSCode on a light & cheap[1] Chromebook I can take everywhere without worrying about it being damaged or stolen; I take it to places I wouldn't dare bring a Macbook Pro. Very few workloads require remoting to my heavy-hitter desktop/cloud VM instance via ssh (or Jupyter notebooks) - far fewer than I initially thought. It's perfectly capable of handling Javascript/CSS/HTML and Go/Python projects 0. Sadly, Crostini only runs on Intel Chromebooks 1. I'm talking about than $200-$250 new, full HD screen, Intel Atom that can eke out 8+ hours on battery. I also bought a 2nd hand backup Chromebook for $53 on Goodwill
  - pjmlp 5y ago
    My Asus 1215B price was around 300 euros with a Linux distribution pre-installed, I really don't get Chromebooks.
- fomine3 5y ago
  Don't forget the another rest of the world, a.k.a. Enterprise.
- i_like_apis 5y ago
  They want all your documents on the cloud. Soon you will own none of your own digital stuff.
vero2 5y ago
no fiddling. Just works. Do not waste time OS upgrades. Browser is the only thing to use. No wasting time saving or lost data; linux commandline rsync or time machine transfers to new computers etc. We deployed this for home office all secretaries as it is cheap and just works.

I am struggling to think of a reason why I would want to run Chrome OS instead of macOS, Windows, or Linux. Then again, I've never understood the appeal of Chromebooks to begin with.

JeremyNT 5y ago

Versus Mac and Windows, it's free. On all platforms, it's presumably lower maintenance. These advantages probably mostly add up if you have a lot of "dumb" kiosk type systems, like in a classroom setting, where children are already often given Chromium appliances rather than general purpose computers.

jug 5y ago

It’s a way to consume the web — an ever larger and growing share of where you do or can do your work, consume entertainment and socialize — with a modern and up-to-date browser on computers that may no longer be supported by Microsoft or Apple.

crb 5y ago

There have been zero reported ransomware attacks on Chrome OS. If you're in a hospital, for example, and all you do is interact with a backend running on an intranet site, that might be a big advantage to you.

Shadonototra 5y ago

macOS/windows are outdated the world is running Android/iOS/Chrome, chromeOS makes sense since it removes the OS from the equation, you are accessing the web directly, local or public For developers, it doesn't make much sense, but for the rest of the world, it is perfect

alienthrowaway 5y ago
> For developers, it doesn't make much sense, but for the rest of the world, it is perfect Developer chiming in - ChromeOS makes a lot of sense since the launch of Linux VMs (aka Crostini)[0]. I get full access to Linux tools & VSCode on a light & cheap[1] Chromebook I can take everywhere without worrying about it being damaged or stolen; I take it to places I wouldn't dare bring a Macbook Pro. Very few workloads require remoting to my heavy-hitter desktop/cloud VM instance via ssh (or Jupyter notebooks) - far fewer than I initially thought. It's perfectly capable of handling Javascript/CSS/HTML and Go/Python projects 0. Sadly, Crostini only runs on Intel Chromebooks 1. I'm talking about than $200-$250 new, full HD screen, Intel Atom that can eke out 8+ hours on battery. I also bought a 2nd hand backup Chromebook for $53 on Goodwill
- pjmlp 5y ago
  My Asus 1215B price was around 300 euros with a Linux distribution pre-installed, I really don't get Chromebooks.
fomine3 5y ago
Don't forget the another rest of the world, a.k.a. Enterprise.
i_like_apis 5y ago
They want all your documents on the cloud. Soon you will own none of your own digital stuff.

vero2 5y ago

no fiddling. Just works. Do not waste time OS upgrades. Browser is the only thing to use. No wasting time saving or lost data; linux commandline rsync or time machine transfers to new computers etc. We deployed this for home office all secretaries as it is cheap and just works.