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Google’s Chromebooks Have Hit Their Stride
- pedalpete 13y agoOver the last few days, I was looking at building an IDE as a Chrome Packaged App, but went with node-webkit due to the file I/O limitations of Chrome. However, for many apps, the combination of ease of building a Chrome Packaged App and the automatic cross-platform capabilities (anything that runs Chrome) will further strengthen the Chromebook market. The one thing I think is missing is more drool-worthy mid-priced machines. There are some very nice Windows 8 devices in the sub-$1000, and it seems Chromebooks jump from $400 right to the Pixel $1200+, which is a large gap in the market.
- skybrian 13y agoCould you say more about file I/O?
- pedalpete 13y agoSure, I wanted to allow the user to select a folder, and for the app to read all the sub-folders and files. Unfortunately, from my experiments, I can open a file, but opening a folder using webkitdirectory hides the path to the folder, so I can't read the folder and it's sub-directories. As I understand it, I could copy the files to the sandboxed filesystem API, but there are a few issues with working in an IDE environment which would break that usability, for example, grunt creating new files, etc. etc. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Happy to take this question to SA if that is a better venue where people would more likely look for the answer as well, if you've got a better solution. As I said, I'm keen to do this as a Chrome Packaged App, though there are a few things like Grunt that I'll want to be running within the app, so node-webkit isn't a bad solution for the prototype.
- xgarland 13y agoWhile I don't have any interest in shifting to Chrome OS entirely, I do think Google has made quite a leap in their recent Chromebook offerings. I, for one, was one of the original pundits that lambasted the Chromebook movement in the beginning, but I am starting to warm up to the idea of owning one in the coming year. It surely will not replace my MBA, but there is room for it to serve as a secondary machine to people like myself. Lastly, Microsoft should feel threatened by the recent uptick in adoption, because this kind of exodus towards ChromeOS will only eat more into their once massive share of the OS market. If Google continues to make progress in this space, $MSFT will most definitely have start paying attention and counter their growth. The new CEO in Redmond has a lot cut out for him upon taking the reins from Ballmer.
- ocfx 13y agoI got one just for surfing the web in the living room for the most part, doing a little bit of coding sometimes, and taking it to meetup groups. There is an app called Caret which satisfies my editor needs. Anyways, I'm pretty satisfied with it and it wasn't very expensive.
- fpgeek 13y agoExactly. Our Chromebook is a convenient living-room computer that my wife and I (and guests) can easily share. It does 80% of what we need there, easily more than enough to justify its purchase price.
- rasengan0 13y agoTotally same use case: instant web applicance in living room, shared accounts, and when a guest comes over - here you go buddy- surf away
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- presty 13y ago> Lastly, Microsoft should feel threatened by the recent uptick in adoption, because this kind of exodus towards ChromeOS will only eat more into their once massive share of the OS market. If Google continues to make progress in this space, $MSFT will most definitely have start paying attention and counter their growth. The new CEO in Redmond has a lot cut out for him upon taking the reins from Ballmer. You mean Microsoft's gonna start doing things like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRKJJLbNUy4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRKJJLbNUy4 ? http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/06/microsoft-really-doesnt-want-you-to-buy-a-chromebook/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/06/microsoft-really-doesnt-wan...
- xgarland 13y agoWow, didn't have a clue that their terrible ads had already begun targeting Chromebooks. Seriously, someone over there really need to find a better way of trying to separate from the competition.
- salient 13y agoI used to support Chromebooks. Not anymore. Having every last bit of your data "in the cloud" has turned out to be a very dangerous concept, especially since Google (and many other cloud providers) don't provide any kind of easy client-side encryption options before uploading the data to the "cloud".
- irishmoss 13y agoI was under the impression that documents stored under /Downloads/ or elsewhere in the file-system (when using dev-mode) are not uploaded to the "cloud".
- GioM 13y agoI can't tell if this is a poor attempt at a defense of the chromebook, or a solid instance of damning by faint praise.
- jjindev 13y agoIn a multi-computer household you may want a computer (or many!) which specifically do not have your important information. (I don't even let my phone know my "real" email address.)
- onosendai 13y ago> especially since Google (and many other cloud providers) don't provide any kind of easy client-side encryption options That's like wishing printer manufacturers would provide an easy way to refill their ink cartridges. It will never happen because no company will knowingly undermine its own business model. Google's (and others') model is to access and mine as much of your own personal data as possible, so the idea that you're in sole control of it is anathema to their stated mission. It used to be that one was generally pretty well aware of exactly what data was handed over when using their services, since the interaction with them was carried out in a limited, well understood manner (browser window, gmail/search site). Since they now control the entire stack from the hardware up to the services, and for the most part the workings of the entire system are opaque, it's very easy to leak data you never intended to, which compounds nicely for them (and unfortunately for you) with their goal. So, in short, your data will never be safe if you hand it over to someone whose goal is to monetize it by being able to read it.
- jmduke 13y agoI'd love a Chromebook equivalent of an iPad. All I do on my tablet at this point is surf the web (okay, and a little Candy Crush/King of Dragon Pass), and if Google could bring that level of build quality and polish to the tablet space it'd be incredibly interesting.
- sbierwagen 13y agoSo, a Nexus tablet?
- jmduke 13y agoI was thinking along the lines of something that ships with/is optimized for Chrome OS.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- skinnycow 13y agoDing ding ding. Someone's been paying attention. (Me predicting this on the day ChromeOS was announced netted me a Cr-48)
- Recoil42 13y agoWhy does it matter if all you're doing is surfing the web? What doesn't Android provide as an analogue? Why is Chrome OS important to you in this instance? Not trying to contradict you -- just trying to understand your position.
- fpgeek 13y agoChrome OS is a desktop-style browser, not a mobile one. That means desktop versions of sites work best, multiple window support, full Flash and a few other things. Over time these differences will fade (e.g. post-Pixel touch support has become comparable), especially as Android gets Chrome packaged app support, but in the meantime...
- ladzoppelin 13y agoSo basically Chrome OS is like Microsoft windows only with less features, less control, less software, hardware dependent and developed by an advertising company? Doesn't Chrome OS resemble an IPad challenger rather than a Windows/MacBook substitute?
- onedev 13y agoIt's an incredibly lightweight OS that covers 90% of usage scenarios and runs well on portable ~$200 hardware. That's the promise of a Chromebook. The thing I think you're missing is that many people are replacing usage of their main computer with tablets and similar devices. So yes ChromeOS/books can be seen as a competitor to an iPad, but the ENTIRE space (e.g. tablets, smartphones, Chromebooks) is competing against the PC as we know it.
- theg2 13y agoMy Dell Venue 8 Pro is pretty fantastic at near that price point and is a full desktop OS. Granted its a tablet and not a full Laptop but its a great piece of hardware and Windows 8 really shines on it.
- andybak 13y agoI'm sure it is but how will it run after 6 months of use by a non-technical user. The 'Windows half-life' kicks in and most Windows PC's I've ever seen have been almost unusable after a year or so of such usage.
- steveklabnik 13y agoI've been using a Chromebook Pixel full time for the past month or so. It's been really great. I'm not even using crouton, just the stock ChromeOS.
- msoad 13y agoIn cases that you have to SSH into another machine for work, it works perfect. That screen is just amazing!
- mentos 13y agoI'd be interested in seeing if anyone has had success in getting OSX to run on a Chromebook. So far googling for "Chromebook hackintosh" doesn't look promising. The same way Apple has come out with its 'C' line of iPhones which I assume are cheaper, I see an enormous opportunity to do the same with their Macs. Imagine a $250 Macbook.
- hkmurakami 13y agoone reason why the "c" line of iPhones came out is because consumers now see iPhones and Android phones as virtual substitutes. even within the more tech savvy crowd I see many peers switching between one and the other, in both directions. I see this far less with Macs, and so I question the substitutionality of Macs with other computing options for most of its consumers. (that being said I use all three major PC operating systems)
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- kovalkos 13y ago>Imagine a $250 Macbook. The only good part about Macs is the hardware. I would much rather run a normal linux distro instead. Putting OS X on $200 Chromebook is like buying a barn and thinking you will get 1000-acre piece of land with it.
- prodigal_erik 13y agoThe only good part about Macs is the UI. There used to be Mac clones made with commodity hardware, but they sold so well they threatened Apple's ridiculously inefficient margins. Apple's supply chain isn't as bad now, but if all you want is a browser there's no reason to get it from them.
- ancarda 13y agoWhen Chrome OS was first announced, I wanted to try it out. Unfortunately every time I try, I can't get it to run in VirtualBox. The hexxeh builds are old (April 2013) and there's no ISO I can download. Has anyone else had success in running a recent, stable build in VirtualBox?
- lstamour 13y agoLast December, I played with building ChromeOS from source for a $449 touchscreen Asus laptop from Microsoft Store. It's easy enough if you just follow the directions on the ChromiumOS website. But I found keeping builds updated was a bigger hardship, and didn't want to make my own continuous build system. So I returned the laptop and this month bought an Acer C720P. Much happier.
- towndrunk 13y agoTry a build from here: http://chromium.arnoldthebat.co.uk/ http://chromium.arnoldthebat.co.uk/
- wepple 13y agoWhy not grab VMware? I got the hexxeh build running fine on VMWare (Workstation, but it should work fine in Player) a couple of days ago. All I had to do was change ethernet config in the .vmx file as it wasn't picking up the virtual adapter.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- cbhl 13y agoBooting Chrome OS in a VM will likely disappoint, since you won't have graphics acceleration (Aura will be slow) and you'll be using the BIOS boot method (which chainloads to one of the GPT partitions containing the kernel and is generally slow compared to a direct uBoot (ARM) or Core Boot (x86_64) boot). If you're in America, I'd recommend trying a Chromebook out at a local Best Buy. Failing that, throwing an old Hexxeh USB build on a USB key and booting it will give you a first approximation, but you'll miss out on things like the proprietary EME extensions that enable Netflix and other little details that make Chromebooks usable.
- Brakenshire 13y agoHow are Chromebooks for use with other Linux distributions? Would be nice to have hardware which was made for use with the Linux kernel (and therefore, presumably, guaranteed to have near-perfect hardware support).
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- reirob 13y agoIf this is true, then it is really a shame. Just my opinion.
- supergauntlet 13y ago3.4 isn't that old. Debian stable and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS are still on 3.2. It's not ideal, sure, and it'd be great if they were running 3.12 or something but its not a huge issue in most cases. If you're trying to run docker or something on it then sure it's a problem but they don't have a ton of memory in the first place.
- snogglethorpe 13y ago> Not very good. Asus chromebook has a locked boot loader, so it seems to only boots Google signed OS. If this is true, then "Not very good" would still be specific to the ASUS model (I don't know much about the ASUS); other chromebook models do better. Even if true, of course, the solution is obvious: don't buy the ASUS chromebook; it has few distinguishing features anyway, and then the problem becomes self-correcting over time. Linus himself, for instance, uses a Chromebook Pixel as his laptop, and he most certainly cares about which kernel it runs... :] [Here are directions for installing Linux on the Chromebook Pixel: http://vger.kernel.org/~davem/chromebook_pixel_linux.txt http://vger.kernel.org/~davem/chromebook_pixel_linux.txt ]
- Crito 13y agoThe Pixel allows you to boot unsigned OSes. I wiped ChromeOS from my Pixel and now have Debian Wheezy on it (though I build my own kernels for it. The Pixel is supported in recent kernel versions but not the version that Wheezy comes with).
- hkmurakami 13y agoit's honestly impossible to decipher the validity of the claims without seeing the sales breakdown of chrome books. how many of them were given away for free but counted as sales?
- eliben 13y agoWhy would Amazon give away laptops for free? You can verify the claim in the link by just going to Amazon and looking at the best sellers in the laptop category.
- mavhc 13y agoAs long as you're fine abandoning the past a Chromebook is a good idea. However the concept of online documents to a normal person used to desktop software can be tricky, "how do I save?", "how do I attach this document to an email?". Then there's concepts like authorising a web app to use your Google Drive to save files in, and exporting PDFs to give to people. And things like mpeg2 files don't play, so your own video camera won't work. Main advantage is it never goes wrong or needs maintenance, no apps to update, even automatically. Don't need to learn about AV, etc.
- gizmo 13y agoChroombooks support thumb drives / memory sticks. So people can stick to their old habit of drag&dropping files from their thumb stick to an email to add an attachment.
- saraid216 13y agoWait wait wait. You're telling me that, to attach a file to an email, I attach a thumb drive to the computer? That's kinda awesome.
- plywoodtrees 13y agoThere is a File/Save and File/Open dialog much like people will be used to. You can use that to save and attach files.
- mavhc 13y agoAndroid/iOS basically didn't bother with cross application files, so that's one way to solve it. However the whole "3rd party app saves to google drive, attach file to email straight from drive, never have to download and upload it" thing is the future, just another new concept for people to learn, complicated by having to authorise all the 3rd parties to write to your gdrive.
- julianpye 13y agoMy girlfriend and I won a Google sponsored hackathon this year that got us flights and tix to I/O and we both got the Pixel there. She then decided to make an experiment and sold her Macbook, to proceed using only the Pixel and an iPad. She wrote her entire dissertation with it and loves it. The three things she misses are Illustrator, Photoshop and Lightroom. I doubt she would have done the same thing with a lesser Chromebook, so it was the Pixel's quality that won her over. She now is an embassador for it and recently a friend of ours got one for his wife for Xmas instead of a W8 laptop.
- judk 13y agoHow is the Pixel better than a Mac running Chrome? The touchscreen?
- julianpye 13y agoTouchscreen and the touchpad on the Pixel are simply state of the art - so much better than on my Asus Zenbook, much more precise and simply a joy to use. The speed-up time is very good, too, of course. It has to be said that her Mac was quite old and she was intending to replace it soon, anyway.
- judk 13y agoAh, almost any new X is massively better than 4 year old Y. Exceptions are the real dogs, like Windows Vista and eMachines.
- gkoberger 13y agoBought Chromebooks (and Chromecasts) for all my tech-illiterate family members in order to cut down on having to provide tech support, and it's been amazing. No issues so far, and everything just works.
- antimora 13y agoThat's exactly what I did this year too. I bought a Chromebook for my mom and she's loving it. I am loving it because I don't have to worry about the OS becoming bloated over time and malwares creeping in.
- rkudeshi 13y agoWhat do they do for Office-type documents and photo management? Google Docs and Picasa?
- dded 13y agoIn the two cases I know of, nothing replaces Office-type docs (as in, they don't use them), and Facebook replaces an over-loaded SD card that never leaves the camera for photo management. (Note, I'm not the GP.)
- gkoberger 13y agoIn my family's case: Word: Google Docs is more than enough for the type of documents they work on. Photos: Photos are taken on the iPhone and shared directly via FB/etc. No need to touch a computer.
- cbhl 13y agoDepends. Some users don't need Office-type documents on the laptop -- they have a work-issued computer or it's not a requirement of their day-to-day needs. Similarly with photo management -- maybe they don't have a camera, or they just leave photos on their phone without a copy on the computer. Other users believe in the Google vision, which is Google Docs and Google+ Photos. (Picasa's web interface is basically dead now.)
- cshimmin 13y ago
- mythz 13y agoI've always predicted that the focus of ChromeOS is the future for mass market end-user OS: A hassle-free OS that works like an appliance that's easy enough for everyone to use (since everyone already knows how to use a browser). Turn it on and become instantly productive, automatically save to the cloud so users no longer have to worry about Files/Directories/Backups/etc. Computer dies? no problem, sign-in into a new ChromeOS and regain access to your entire environment. Whilst it's still not useful for power users/developers, I'm predicting it will be the preferred managed OS for many corporate office users.
- xgarland 13y agoAgreed. The shift towards a more affordable machine that can meet the most basic productivity needs will attract businesses, especially since we now live in world with more mobile workforces.Bloated OS's are a thing of the past and no longer needed as much now as they were 10, 15 years ago.
- rasengan0 13y agoReplying on a $249 ARM chromebook running https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton it runs Firefox, vim, BitTorrent Sync A key chord and I'm back on ChromeOS Updates on ChromeOS are clean and easy Instant on just as fast as iPad ChromeOS: Flip the lid open and there you are Linux: + sudo startxfce4 Your data is yours. The Win7 updates to my old netbook which i don't even use anymore take like an hour. Windows can run TurboxTax; I'll give it that.
- dragonwriter 13y ago> Windows can run TurboxTax So can pretty much every mobile/desktop OS, including ChromeOS, now that Turbo Tax has web-based "Turbo Tax Online" editions. The "I need Windows to run X" factor is getting weaker over time.
- judk 13y agoUnless your stupid bank is only compatible with TurboTax CD version :-(
- jasomill 13y agoOr you want to work with the underlying forms rather than the "wizard" mode (essential when seeking advice from sources other than TurboTax online help), file/amend prior-year or late (after October 15) returns, file a business return, or prepare multiple returns without paying multiple e-filing fees. Like most other Web versions of existing desktop apps, TurboTax Online is not a complete replacement for the desktop version.
- vinkelhake 13y agoI got a Chromebook (XE500C21) as a gift and I didn't think it'd see much use. I set up crouton on it and I'm using it for browsing, IRC and some (very light) programming. I've come to use it far more than I thought I would. My primary reasons for reaching for it rather than a "real" laptop (got a couple of Thinkpads around as well) is that it's got great battery life and that it's so cheap that I don't care if it gets wrecked. It's been beaten, stepped on, splashed on. It sits somewhere between a tablet and a normal laptop. It doesn't replace any of them, but it's a great complement.
- hexagonc 13y agoIt's been beaten, stepped on, splashed on. Stepped on by a baby? I'd be surprised if it could survive being stepped on by an adult. Especially the screen.
- vinkelhake 13y agoOh, it seems that I forgot to mention where the abuse was coming from! Yes, two toddlers.
- jay_kyburz 13y agoGoogle Docs let me down when it mattered most. I really wanted to go all in on Google Apps and have been using them exclusively for the last year, but at the start of december I started negotiating a large contract and I had a solicitor drawing up some documents for me. Both the solicitor and the large company I was negotiating with were sending me .docx files and Google docs was failing to number the paragraph correctly. This let to quite a bit of embarrassment and was forced to go out and buy Office for mac. If I was using a Cromebook I would have to buy a whole other laptop.
- adamors 13y agoDid you try LibreOffice? It's somewhere between Google docs and MS Office.
- andybak 13y agoI'm conflicted here. Handling MS Office formats correctly is so essential to so many people that Google Docs really needs to do better here. On the other hand it's such a shitty format that getting it right is a gargantuan task. LibreOffice doesn't get much credit here either and I'm not aware of any other 3rd party clients that do much better (correct me if I'm wrong).
- yuhong 13y agoI wonder if MS was to rewrite their binary file format reader/writer in MS Office (to for example be secure from the beginning) how long would it take for them to get it correct.
- s3r3nity 13y agoThis. The Chrome store is ridden with lame and/or spammy apps that haven't met the bar I was expecting, and therefore you pretty much _have_ to use Google Apps for everything. For most individual use cases it seems ok, but enterprise-level adoption requires good substitutes for apps like Powerpoint, Word, and Excel. (Hell even as a contractor I wouldn't trust my work in Google Apps, as I've been burned before as well.)
- deleted 13y ago
- grandeb 13y agoI find the numbers hard to believe and looks like PR more than anything else. Am on my phone right now, so can't check the numbers. What's the catch?
- happyasian 13y agoSad to see you modded down for just asking a question, but you're right. >according to the latest numbers from NPD, Chromebooks accounted for 21 percent of all laptop sales and almost 10 percent of all computer sales to businesses in 2013. It's only "preconfigured" laptops, which probably excludes many sales because a lot of people go to the OEM sites, say Lenovo and configure a laptop there. Also, it's US only and probably counts the Chromebooks that Google is discounting a lot, for example $99 for some schools. Also, other big news is that Mac sales(not sure if absolute or as a percentage) seem to be dropping.
- tanzam75 13y agoIn particular, large enterprises buy a lot of computers CTO (custom to order). CTO is not preconfigured. Also note that this NPD report is for the commercial channel only. If a school bought Chromebooks for every student, then that gets counted. If a business decided to use Google Apps for corporate groupware, and bought Chromebooks as a bundle, that's also counted. But all the discussion above about how great Chromebooks are for girlfriends and grandmas? That's not what this NPD report is about. NPD tabulates retail sales separately from commercial sales. The latest public figures from NPD give a 3.3% share for Chromebooks in the retail channel during back-to-school season (July, August, and the first week of September). > Also, other big news is that Mac sales(not sure if absolute or as a percentage) seem to be dropping. I would say that the 8.5% increase in Windows desktop sales is bigger news. Especially since it contradicts the dominant narrative of the impending death of Windows. As for declines in Mac sales, Macs are practically nonexistent in the business world, except for its majority share in the media industry. Remember the backlash over Final Cut Pro and the delays to the Mac Pro? That would not have been good for Mac sales to the media industry. But now the Mac Pro is out, so Mac numbers should go back up next year.
- faceponder 13y agoI've been looking into buying a Chromebook for some backpacking I'll be doing in Southeast Asia this summer. The portability and battery life are a big plus, and I like that the devices are cheap enough that I wouldn't have to worry about it getting damaged. However, I've also been considering getting an iPad mini instead. Anyone with experience traveling with these devices care to share some input? Specifically, would a Chromebook still be useful (and worth the weight) if I might only have WiFi a couple times per week?
- rasengan0 13y agoThat is another big plus for the Chromebook. They steal it and you're out $249, though in dev mode you're unsecured. But... My Samsung charger is a brick. Not sure about Asus. Battery life on ARM is 4-5 hrs, Intel better at 5-7hrs, but still no match against the tablets. For portability, you may be better off with a smaller tablet: Nexus 7 or iPad mini plus keyboard. I would give the edge to Android for easy access to the filesystem unless you jailbreak iOS. My Nexus 7 also runs vim with plugins: https://github.com/momodalo/vimtouch_fullruntime https://github.com/momodalo/vimtouch_fullruntime, Firefox and BitTorrent Sync same as the chromebook. Running vim on a Nexus 7 is a dream; the only hassle is pairing the bluetooth keyboard (another thing to carry with AAA batteries) and a OTG cable dongle if you transfer files to usb flash. It sends/receives files with NFC, bluetooth, BTSync and USB flash drives via Nexus Media Importer http://nexususb.blogspot.com/2012/08/welcome.html http://nexususb.blogspot.com/2012/08/welcome.html My iPad can't do that. It all depends what you want to do with the device. One thing i like about tablets though is they are quick data capture devices: secondary camera, Swype like virtual keyboard faster that typing and paint/sketching. Imagine trying to swivel a Chromebook's stanky front facing VGA cam to take a picture if your camera lost power. If you're travelling that may be a consideration.
- xur17 13y agoThe HP Chromebook takes a microusb charger.
- faceponder 13y agoThanks for the thoughtful response! You bring up some good points - I hadn't considered the weight of the charger.
- brownbat 13y ago10% of sales... to businesses? Wow, really thought that would be the last safe haven, due to MS Office entrenchment. I guess it's not clear what businesses, or how they use the machines, but... if enterprises get comfy with Google Docs, we could be on the edge of a huge destructive shift.
- thrownaway2424 13y agoNobody wants to hand out Windows laptops to everyone in their business. Maybe a core of your company are Office power users, and maybe this is even half of your company, but the other half are idiots. These are people in your organization who need to be contacted via email, need to read documentation, but simply cannot be trusted with an actual computer. To these people, you give a Chromebook. Having seen inside a company that hands out Chromebooks to everyone, even if they already have a "real" computer, I think Microsoft is going to lose a lot of ground to them. They are cheap enough to just throw them away when broken. If a user is having problems, they can just drop their Chromebook in a drop box and walk out with another one in 10 seconds flat. And again, they are cheap enough to just have them on a shelf outside your IT office or tech support desk.
- tmzt 13y agoGoogle really needs to send 2 of these things to every paying Google Apps customer with 50+ users. They should also fix the VPN and support and, yes, add support for PPTP connections.
- plg 13y agoIs there still a chromebook with 3G or even LTE access built in? With a (worldwide) google data plan? I would buy one in a heartbeat if that were the case.
- kirtijthorat 13y agoYes, there is. I have a Samsung Chromebook with 3G from Verizon built-in. I am very impressed with this laptop and battery life. The next model will have the LTE capability.
- zacinbusiness 13y agoChromebooks are very intriguing to me. Currently I use a MacBook Air and iPad Air for computing (C#, Java, ObjC programming, Photoshop, and basic office stuff such as word and Excel). I primarily run Win7 due to the VPN client my company uses only working with Windows. But if that changes. I may look elsewhere.
- wil421 13y agoI appreciate what Google is doing for software compared to other companies but most people I know are buying a chrome book because its cheap. I feel that an Internet only connected computer isn't the way to go. Chrome only sucks. I want a real OS.
- notreadbyhumans 13y agoI was in Starbucks the other day and a couple of late-middle age Librarians were sat at an adjacent table (I couldn't tell if they were from the local library, or the local university), both with the 11 inch Samsung Chromebook (2012). These were clearly issued by their employer (and quite recently by the sounds of it), although one had been decked out with a bright pink rubberised skin. After a few minutes of negotiation they were both connected to the free wi-fi and proceeded with a meeting where they collaboratively edited a set of Google Docs and Spreadsheets, whilst sat on opposite sides of same the table (the docs were the focus of their meeting). There are many use-cases for Chromebooks (I also have the same Samsung which I use for testing), but one is certainly employers managing large portfolios of standardised desktops used by 'information workers', and which are primarily used for editing spreadsheets and text documents, and surfing the web & using web apps (one might argue that these are largely indistinguishable from students, which is a another sector that Google has targeted). It may have been that they would have been using Google Drive on their old (presumably) Windows machines, but I suspect that what was likely an economic decision for their employer (the Samsungs are £200 in the UK when bought through Amazon, likely much cheaper when bought in bulk), is also driving uptake of Drive (and web apps in general). What was interesting from my point of view - as a developer - was that here were two reasonably tech-savvy 'civilians' using what is a relatively limited (by design) technology, and doing so in a very natural and fluid way. There was no mention of either the hardware or the OS and its limitations, they just went about their business without any hiccups or stumbles over the tools they were using. People who question the Chromebook programme - they're just a browser, you can already do the same on any desktop, etc - are all making very valid points. But in many situations the question isn't what magical things can we make this device do, but rather what is the least (both in terms of cost, but also the scope of things that can go wrong) we can provide and still have our people function effectively. Google appear to be taking a bottom up approach to answering this question: slowly adding functionality to ChromeOS until it meets the majority of use cases the majority of the time. The grey area between Chrome the OS and Chrome the Browser is by design: If you find that you are increasingly living in Chrome on the desktop, maybe your next machine will be a Chromebook.
- kirtijthorat 13y agoAnother good read is the Forbes latest article "Here's Why Microsoft Is Worried About Google Chromebooks" at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2013/12/29/heres-why-microsoft-is-worried-about-google-chromebooks/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2013/12/29/heres-... Also, another important thing to note that many Chromebook apps now work just fine off-line, so Chromebooks are increasingly less dependent on an Internet connection.