Chrome OS / Chromebooks

[Windroid]

Folks: What are your thoughts on Chrome OS and Chromebooks? And do you use Chrome OS yourself?

 

[mikedt]

I know what a Chromebook is from posts I've read about them on AF, but I've never seen one for myself.

 

[Dannydet]

Never used one...

 

[AugieTN]

I have an older Samsung Chromebook. It's 32bit. I was just told updates will stop in August 2023

It looks like this: https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Chromebook-Celeron-Processor-Gigabit/dp/B07XL4JHXR

 

[Windroid]

I have an older Samsung Chromebook. It's 32bit. I was just told updates will stop in August 2023

And how do you use it? What are your thoughts on it?

 

[lacopper]

I have never used it. I am very curious to know how it works?

 

[Hadron]

I don't live in Google's "ecosystem", don't use Google web apps, don't use Chrome as a browser, never log in to Google on another browser, don't use cloud storage (at least not commercial clouds) and so need more storage than Chromebooks provide. So overall I figure I'm not really the target market . I understand that you can activate Linux support (at least on most of them), but if I'm interested in Linux but not ChromeOS I'm sure there are better choices.

I've occasionally seen students with them, but it's never been common and I see fewer these days than I used to.

 

[Windroid]

so need more storage than Chromebooks provide.

That would depend on the Chromebook, some have more disk space than others. Pluss some of them can take SD cards.

 

[Hadron]

I don't follow Chromebooks, but haven't seen one with > 256 GB SSD so was basing my comment on that.

(I don't use SD cards as storage devices, so for me an SD slot is just for transferring photos).

 

[Davdi]

If you don't want Windows, just get a Lenovo laptop and put your choice of Linux on it. Mint/Ubuntu are good choices for a first Linux distro.

 

[Windroid]

If you don't want Windows, just get a Lenovo laptop and put your choice of Linux on it. Mint/Ubuntu are good choices for a first Linux distro.

Most people aren't going to be installing operating systems.

 

[Clementine_3]

Most people aren't going to be installing operating systems.

This exactly.

I have a super old Chromebook, it does what I want and nothing more. I used to have a HP something or other running Windows and hated it but there were no other real options way back then.

One day the laptop/Windows was giving me grief about something, I said screw it and got the Chromebook. Never looked back and miss nothing. Caveat being that I'm an 'average' computer user - I don't need a ton of powerful programs to code for NASA. Google owns me these days so I use Drive (docs etc.), Photos, Gmail and bookmark the other stuff (forums lol), what I need/use is all online. It's never failed me, doesn't crash and just has the basics - perfect for me these days.

 

[Windroid]

This exactly.

I have a super old Chromebook, it does what I want and nothing more. I used to have a HP something or other running Windows and hated it but there were no other real options way back then.

One day the laptop/Windows was giving me grief about something, I said screw it and got the Chromebook. Never looked back and miss nothing. Caveat being that I'm an 'average' computer user - I don't need a ton of powerful programs to code for NASA. Google owns me these days so I use Drive (docs etc.), Photos, Gmail and bookmark the other stuff (forums lol), what I need/use is all online. It's never failed me, doesn't crash and just has the basics - perfect for me these days.

Now you've piqued my interest. I use Chrome OS (or rather, Chromium OS) myself, but I use it as my Android. I don't use Chrome OS as Chrome OS. It sounds like you do.

 

[Clementine_3]

Right. I use Chrome as Chrome. I haven't, and probably will never, 'crossed the line' between the two but I can't really explain why. The Chromebook is my laptop and my phone is my phone. Sure, the same stuff is accessible on both but they are somehow different for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Windroid]

Right. I use Chrome as Chrome. I haven't, and probably will never, 'crossed the line' between the two but I can't really explain why. The Chromebook is my laptop and my phone is my phone. Sure, the same stuff is accessible on both but they are somehow different for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But what about the opposite? As I've said: I use Chrome OS as my Android. Could Android also be used as Chrome OS?

 

[Clementine_3]

But what about the opposite? As I've said: I use Chrome OS as my Android. Could Android also be used as Chrome OS?

Not to be dismissive but I honestly don't know or care these days. There was a time when I would have, but I'm past that. I keep up on Android and phones because I enjoy doing so, I don't care what my Chromebook can or can't do (beyond what I use it for) or what can morph into what or how I could modify it or use it for other stuff...I use it the way it was shipped because it's straightforward and not convoluted and requires no futzing around on my part. That's not to say my phone is out of the box fresh though.

 

[Milo Williamson]

Was thinking of picking one up years before I thought of getting my Samsung Tablet..

 

[ocnbrze]

But what about the opposite? As I've said: I use Chrome OS as my Android. Could Android also be used as Chrome OS?

what does this mean? chrome os (and chromium os) is not android. if you are talking about running android apps, just so you know chrome os runs an android simulation to run those android apps.

 

[Windroid]

what does this mean? chrome os (and chromium os) is not android. if you are talking about running android apps, just so you know chrome os runs an android simulation to run those android apps.

As I said in the thread "Blurring the Lines between Android and Chrome OS":

Android and Chrome OS were originally separate projects, but the lines between the two have become very blurred. Here's my personal experience:

I tried out a Surface Go 3, to replace my ageing 7th Gen. Kindle Fire. My Surface Go 3 came with Windows. The Surface Go under Windows made an excellent ultra-portable laptop (with the keyboard attachment), but a poor tablet. There was an obvious solution: Install Android. I had Android on my Kindle Fire, so I knew Android worked well enough as a tablet system. Get Android onto my Surface, and I could have both Windows laptop and Android table, all in one unit!

The question became: Which Android distribution to use? I tried a few, but the only one I could get to work properly was "FydeOS for You". FydeOS is a Chromium OS distribution, meaning it's meant more to turn computers into makeshift Chrombooks than Android tablets. But that was okay. On an Intel-based Surface Go 3, "FydeOS for You" comes with the Android subsystem. That subsystem allows compatible Chromebooks to run Android apps. After changing a few settings (such as enabling the standard Android navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen), my makeshift Chromebook worked well as an Android tablet!

As I said: The line between Android and Chrome OS has become very blurred.

I know that Chrome/Chromium OS isn't strictly speaking Android. But if it swims like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, call it a duck. However: Chrome OS's quack used to be very different from that of Android's! Chrome OS was originally a cloud computing system rather than Android by another name, and can still be used as a cloud computing system.

What I mean by "Could Android also be used as Chrome OS?" is: Does the opposite apply as well? Chrome OS can quack like Android, but can Android also quack like Chrome OS? Can Android easily be used for the same cloud computing stuff you'd use Chrome OS for?

 

[ocnbrze]

well just compare an android tablet to a chromebook. do they function the same? yes, the chromebooks just feels more like a computer compared to an android tablet. i think having an attached keyboard helps. i'm not necessarily a fan of bluetooth keyboards that you find for tablets. plus most tablets screens are 2 small for me. i have a 15" and a 17" laptop which is way bigger than any android tablet, unless you get samsung's monster sized 14.6" s8 tablet.....but at $1000, it is way too much. you are better by getting a pc instead.

for android to run by cloud computing will depend on the apps available for this.

 

[Windroid]

for android to run by cloud computing will depend on the apps available for this.

And I was never in the Chrome OS/Google cloud world (unlike Clementine_3). I'm in the Android world, the world of apps and all. I can say that Chrome OS tablets (the ones with Google Play) are, for most practical purposes, Android tablets. But I'm not qualified to say if the reverse is true.

 

[ocnbrze]

now its all matter of semantics. i consider any chrome os tablets as chromebooks. the few that are out there even have chromebook in their name:

6 Best Chrome OS Tablets You Can Buy In 2023

Now when we have Chrome OS tablets and light laptops we can work anytime and anywhere, they're easy for traveling. With computer software and android functions.

www.tabletgeeky.com

 

[Clementine_3]

now its all matter of semantics.

Yup.

 

[nickdalzell]

I just went full on Linux. I prefer customizable OS and Chrome OS is worse than Apple in lacking customization. Also you're stuck with Google's selection of crApps that they kill any time they feel the need, forced updates you have no say in, and UI redesigns constantly.

At first I never figured Linux could replace Windows, but after successfully converting a gaming rig over to it (Ubuntu GamePack) I got spoiled and Linux'd all the things. This laptop, a Dell Inspiron 15 5000 series (stepdad was going to throw it away), runs Q4OS, a distro that retains the early 2000s skeuomorphism and KDE3 in a fork known as Trinity. Another is running a much older, 2010 edition of Pear Linux OS, one which previously tried to be 1 per 1 MacOS but was really a heavily skinned Ubuntu. Another, an eMachines got Vista swapped with Mandriva 2011, and since all it does is email and AF, and the occasional MP3 playing, it doesn't need to be current. The one running Pear never goes online, is just for music, local games, and photo collages. It was able to sudo apt-get update and update itself despite being long out of support (swapping the PPAs to old-releases.ubuntu.com in sources.list accomplished that) until its internal wifi finally crapped out. At least it managed to get Wine installed before doing so, enabling perhaps some enjoyment of older games that pre-date Steam one day. Now I just need to find that Half Life 2 disk...

 

[Hadron]

I've got a Half Life 2 disk - probably about the last time I did any gaming.

I suspect that the family PC wouldn't run it, but should test some time...