Bought 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.
Google’s Chromebooks Have Hit Their Stride
41–50 of 138 posts
Re: Google’s Chromebooks Have Hit Their Stride
#42So 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?
Yes, ChromeOS is really more of an iOS challenger than a direct windows challenger. But iOS is a windows challenger. It's silly to divide the market into iPad competitors and Windows competitors, and even sillier to dismiss the iPad competitors because they aren't a "real" operating system.
There's a huge market for people who don't want all the complication of windows. Don't think of it as having less features and less software, think of it as having different features and different software.
Re: Google’s Chromebooks Have Hit Their Stride
#43How 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]
The 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).
Re: Google’s Chromebooks Have Hit Their Stride
#44When 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?
Try a build from here: http://chromium.arnoldthebat.co.uk/
Re: Google’s Chromebooks Have Hit Their Stride
#45I'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.
Re: Google’s Chromebooks Have Hit Their Stride
#46I 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".
> 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.
Re: Google’s Chromebooks Have Hit Their Stride
#47Bought 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.
That'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.
Re: Google’s Chromebooks Have Hit Their Stride
#48Replying on a $249 ARM chromebook running 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.
Re: Google’s Chromebooks Have Hit Their Stride
#49So 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?
They are really Netbook challengers. For OEMs it is a race to the bottom. But it is a smart play for Google. But like Netbooks I think it'll have a short run. In the same way it is hard for WinPhone to compete against Android in the long tail of apps, I think the long tail of Win apps is tough to compete with when you can get a Windows PC at almost the same price.
The bet Google is making is that the long tail of Win apps will be dwarfed by the longer tail of web apps. As always, the future will tell.
Re: Google’s Chromebooks Have Hit Their Stride
#50I'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 ne…
Agreed.
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.