Going Chrome OS - Abandoning Windows 8 and the PC

[Schlenkerla]

I have officially made the leap. I'm a long time chrome user, so I bought a chrome book and a chrome box.

I love my chromebook so far. Fast boots in 1 second, no software to update, no virus software to install and never worried about storage space with use of drive, box and dropbox.

I just got one of the first Asus chromebox from Amazon for $179. Haven't had the chance to play with it yet. Its still at my local FedEx office. Can't wait to shove the tower running win 8 into the back of the closet.

Just wondering how many people on HBT have made the jump...

 

[illinoisbrassman]

Windows 8 irritates the hell out of me, but I have a few things that require a windows based OS to run, so I'm dealing with it. I will admit 8.1 its a big improvement (meaning step backward) as I don't have to use the stupid tile screen anymore.

 

[boydster]

Using Windows 8.1 since getting my new laptop, but I am a linux user and I don't really like this new Windows interface. I'm also a dad with a 10 month old daughter so my free time is either brewing or tweaking with the computer... Brewing has won out recently. I'll get back to linux sometime soon. I haven't fully partaken in the Chrome OS kool-aid yet.

 

[Schlenkerla]

HeyWhat are you running on Windows that's keeping you there? I'm sure the Google folks are developing software to make that reason a thing of the past.

I have my work laptop running Windows 7. That's my primary pc day in and day out, so when I get home I'm not doing ProE or anything with graphics or video editing over a VPN. In fact nothing much with office products either, but I never had office on my Windows 8 machine.

What really got me to switch was doing my parents bills and legal work. Which was on my work desktop. Not a good idea. I needed a mobile personal device. Glad I did it though, all the legal stuff is on the cloud. If I need a POA at any time I can access very easily.

I hate the Windows tile screen too, and more so the circle of turning dots as some application loads.

 

[illinoisbrassman]

My wife uses the laptop for to run her embroidery machine, and to create, edit, store, manage all the embroidery designs

 

[Schlenkerla]

My wife uses the laptop for to run her embroidery machine, and to create, edit, store, manage all the embroidery designs

Ok, that is really a special need. For more than one reason.....

 

[Facinerous]

I'm still happy with my Macbook Pro. This is my second one though over 9 years. I bought my girlfriend a good ol windows laptop and it reminds my of every reason why I went with the Mac.

I am happy to see the Chrome OS out there now though. Just another way Google is going to take over the world. I am an avid fan of their Android OS so Chrome should be top notch.

Compared to Win 8 almost anything would be better IMO. Microsoft really failed with that one.

 

[schiersteinbrewing]

Macbook pro user here. At work we use Windows and I cant stand it, I just convinced them to buy some Chromebooks . Being the IT director im trying to convince them to switch to linux or mac. I was able to switch the servers to linux from Microsoft, thank goodness.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[Schlenkerla]

I'm still happy with my Macbook Pro. This is my second one though over 9 years. I bought my girlfriend a good ol windows laptop and it reminds my of every reason why I went with the Mac.

I am happy to see the Chrome OS out there now though. Just another way Google is going to take over the world. I am an avid fan of their Android OS so Chrome should be top notch.

Compared to Win 8 almost anything would be better IMO. Microsoft really failed with that one.

Chrome seems to have the same reputation on being immune antivirus as does Mac.

I'm like you, I like android. I use chrome for android and since I'm a chrome user the whole Google, android and chrome os integrates well for me.

I got win 8 for a messed up version of win 7. There was too much damage from malware or old viruses on my pavilion. Such to point it would never shut down without a hard power off.

I think win 8 is designed for touch screens; an all in one, tablet or desktop with a touchscreen. The main tile screen tries to be too much for everybody. It seems really clunky without a touchscreen even though the wheel on the mouse works OK. I don't like the long delay once you select and application to run. I thought it might be my machine, but the new machines at best buy did the same thing. That was enough to kill the thought of going to an all in one (AIO) detachable laptop; with keyboard and tablet.

Not to mention the price. Lenovo AIO combo; $699 or the next better processor at $799. I got the Chromebook 14 by HP for $299. Which was about the same size of Lenovo 's. I think the Chromebook was an inch bigger. Anyhow, for that amount I decided to get the Chrombox too (on Amazon). It's$179. Just plug and play the keyboard mouse and monitor. I have two machines for less than one AIO.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Fyi - A Chromebox is a thin client pc running chrome os. All solid state.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I'm not giving up the ability to have local storage (even if on my home NAS rather than the PC itself) and install applications.

But for me, I think it's time to configure the home PC with Ubuntu and run Windows on a VM.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I'm not giving up the ability to have local storage (even if on my home NAS rather than the PC itself) and install applications.

You can store locally but its only 16 gigs. You can add a flash drive. I have a 500 gig and a 1.5 terra drive. I think Google wants to not have too much bloatware in place of a high performing browser.

NAS - network attached storage. You're against not having data stored on the machine itself? Ok gotcha...

 

[Schlenkerla]

I have all of my photo's on picassa. The majority of them stored locally predates 2010 except for the micro SD on my phone. Between dropbox backup, and Verizon backup what's picassa I'm not worried about losing anything.

To what extent does one need to store data. On paper or on a flash drive stored in safety deposit box?

I don't care if I lose stuff after triple backups.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

You can store locally but its only 16 gigs. You can add a flash drive. I have a 500 gig and a 1.5 terra drive. I think Google wants to not have too much bloatware in place of a high performing browser.

NAS - network attached storage. You're against not having data stored on the machine itself? Ok gotcha...

I understand the concept. And I realize the typical home user has more bloatware than software on their PC, and does very few things outside the browser. That's just not me.

I'm not against having data outside the machine... I just need to have it in the home. I'm not paying Google or Dropbox to store a terabyte of family pictures, home video, movies, etc for me. In either Linux or Windows, I can easily map to my NAS and have access to all of my family's data.

 

[MaxStout]

I'm not paying Google or Dropbox to store a terabyte of family pictures, home video, movies, etc for me. In either Linux or Windows, I can easily map to my NAS and have access to all of my family's data.

Yup, external hard drives are cheap. I have two 3TB drives, with everything backed up on both. The two drives are stored in different locations, in case one place has a fire, theft, water damage, etc. I do keep some photos and documents in the cloud, but that's mainly to access them remotely.

 

[Schlenkerla]

At the present moment I'm not paying to store anything. I have 100G on Drive, 50G on Box, and I think 15G on drop box.

Outside of pictures I'm not sure what i want or need backed up. The legal data that I mention in the earlier posts are in storage as well.

I have been living out of a suit case since taking a traveling job. I was without my personal pc for more than a year, as it sat idle at my second home. I really just wanted my brewing software.

I guess many people see the purpose as extra PCs after the traditional machine. These are good for kids and elderly because of the low technical tax on the household IT rep. They are not for everybody.

 

[cheezydemon3]

I bought 2 chromebooks.

One for me, but when I saw how indestructible they are, I got one for my kids.

It is great, but to me it is a cheap copy of a macbook. I would trade up in a heartbeat, cost was the sole reason I didn't get another macbook.

That said, for "cheap" it is pretty damned solid!

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I guess many people see the purpose as extra PCs after the traditional machine. These are good for kids and elderly because of the low technical tax on the household IT rep. They are not for everybody.

I could definitely see using it for the kids. Mine aren't old enough yet to need that.

Although I'd probably just buy a Chromebook and install Ubuntu on it for them

 

[unionrdr]

I switched to the google chrome browser after all that HackThis crap. It's def faster than IE9,but doesn't have the tools & such IE does. But being faster is the best part. And not having oriental characters in my e-mail. At least the thing's working more like it should be now with a dual core processor of 1.8 Ghz each.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I could definitely see using it for the kids. Mine aren't old enough yet to need that.

Although I'd probably just buy a Chromebook and install Ubuntu on it for them

I can't say anything about Ubuntu, as to how little support is needed. Never used it or a linux before.

In the last month I've have cleaned off three machines of malware, toolbars that hijack, and Trojan viruses.... while I take some gratification helping a friend or family member to do this. I like having something maintenance free. Especially since upgrades are done automatically. That's why I would not install anything else on one of these.

For slitchz and giggles I'll Google Ubuntu to find what's about. In a nut shell what so attractive about it?

 

[boydster]

For slitchz and giggles I'll Google Ubuntu to find what's about. In a nut shell what so attractive about it?

It just works. It has a great package management system (free app store, basically), a huge community of developers, and is really easy to learn. To me, it seems like one of the most intuitive linux distributions available.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

It just works. It has a great package management system (free app store, basically), a huge community of developers, and is really easy to learn. To me, it seems like one of the most intuitive linux distributions available.

This. As far as Linux goes, it's easy to use.

 

[Schlenkerla]

This. As far as Linux goes, it's easy to use.

Am I in the dark about Ubuntu? I haven't seen much in the way of advertisement.

I'm think I've seen software and books for both Ubuntu and Linux.

I think I read somewhere that chrome os is designed off of Linux platform. Not sure what that means.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I bought 2 chromebooks.

One for me, but when I saw how indestructible they are, I got one for my kids.

It is great, but to me it is a cheap copy of a macbook. I would trade up in a heartbeat, cost was the sole reason I didn't get another macbook.

That said, for "cheap" it is pretty damned solid!

Yeah, at the price of $299 for chromebook and $179 for a chromebox. You could replace either one of them every year.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Am I in the dark about Ubuntu? I haven't seen much in the way of advertisement.

I'm think I've seen software and books for both Ubuntu and Linux.

I think I read somewhere that chrome os is designed off of Linux platform. Not sure what that means.

Yes, Chrome OS is one of many Linux variants. What they have in common is that they're all based on the same "guts", the Linux kernel. Beyond that, there are literally hundreds of different flavors, or "distributions", of Linux. Some versions are tailored for home use, some for enterprise or supercomputer use, some for very application-specific use in embedded systems, etc etc. Ubuntu is (I believe) currently the most popular home-user distribution.

So Chrome OS is based on the Linux kernel, but Google has tailored their distribution around very limited support for local applications, and to essentially make the entire OS a thin-client doing all the work in the browser. So Google bases Chrome OS on Linux for a few simple reasons: Linux already exists, is incredibly powerful, is incredibly flexible, and anything they tried to come up with in-house would take tons of resources and probably not be as good.

If you do start playing around with other versions of Linux, remember one thing. Linux believes you're an adult. If you tell it to do something, it will do it. If you tell it to do something very, very bad, it will still do it. Generally it should be treated as if the training wheels are off, because they are!

 

[Fionnbharr]

Haven't done much with Chrome -- either the browser or the OS or hardware; I've been a Linux guy since '94 and there weren't such things as 'Distro's.

Funny thing: we called our self-built computers and hobby OS "Homebrew" systems.

All computers, including laptops, at home are Arch Linux. I keep one system with XP virtualized in Xen so that every March I can do my taxes with TurboTax or HR Block. That's literally the only thing I use Windows for.

I started homebrewing beer for the same reason I started hombrewing computers: I like to tinker, and make things the way I want -- Not the way I'm told to want things: BMC beers or Windows/Mac.

Regarding Chrome: I'm a bit leery about handing over control of my information, pictures, documents -- whatever -- for 'cloud' storage. That's what Chrome is all about; the cloud is the OS and system. It's not that I don't trust 'the man' (I don't, but that's beside the point), but I don't trust an impersonal corporation with my very personal stuff: Anybody remember the Amazon AWS 'cloud' flat-out losing business and personal data back in 2011? Or Sony the year before that? And a dozen or so others over the past 10 years?

Chrome: It's fun, and easy and very convenient, given its integration with 'the cloud'. But don't trust anyone but yourself for your data.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Yes, Chrome OS is one of many Linux variants. What they have in common is that they're all based on the same "guts", the Linux kernel. Beyond that, there are literally hundreds of different flavors, or "distributions", of Linux. Some versions are tailored for home use, some for enterprise or supercomputer use, some for very application-specific use in embedded systems, etc etc. Ubuntu is (I believe) currently the most popular home-user distribution.

So Chrome OS is based on the Linux kernel, but Google has tailored their distribution around very limited support for local applications, and to essentially make the entire OS a thin-client doing all the work in the browser. So Google bases Chrome OS on Linux for a few simple reasons: Linux already exists, is incredibly powerful, is incredibly flexible, and anything they tried to come up with in-house would take tons of resources and probably not be as good.

If you do start playing around with other versions of Linux, remember one thing. Linux believes you're an adult. If you tell it to do something, it will do it. If you tell it to do something very, very bad, it will still do it. Generally it should be treated as if the training wheels are off, because they are!

If I understand you right and what else I read, Linux or Ubuntu (correctly stated the most popular), Debian and several others are in the open source developement relm. To some degree Chrome, via Chromium. Android is the same way. Why not? Proliferate for practical use. Google has packaged a stable version (Chrome) for hardware mfg'rs.

A bunch of developers are making apps & extentsions for Chrome or Android off of open source software. Be that a hobby, personal interest, or business... Somehow that seems to be win-win for the consumer, mfgrs of hardware, service providers, and advertisers.

FYI - I used to geek out on software but I'm getting to old to keep up. The business part of my job pushes me more into management activities. I used work at the industrial machine level burning eprom, eeprom. Doing ladder logic, (similated relay switches), programming frequency drives. Integrating opto couplers to bridge voltage differences . This included working with analog/digital I/O from hard wire or serial ports. In the 90's I was doing visual basic and C++, dbase, to sort CVS files for mfg equipment.... mfg system integration.

Per your 3rd paragraph. what is to linux source code for "Get me another beer, beotch?"

 

[Schlenkerla]

I set up my chromebox, it's about the same as the chromebook except a much larger screen. Using my same monitor from my win 8 machine.

So far I'm quite happy. The standard mouse and key board work as normal too.

Just login and wa la. The only thing different is the desktop background, which is pretty much up to me to select at start up.

It's lightening fast, and all my browser settings in chrome replicate.

 

[cheezydemon3]

I got my chromebooks for $225 each on sale. Agreed, for the money, hard to beat and almost disposable. (not that you would)

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

I have a chromebook as my internet browsing from the couch device. Love it for that. It isn't a PC replacement though.

As far as the whole windows 8/8.1 thing, I think people are massively overblowing it. People always ***** about every single major windows OS change then are fine with it when they realize that pretty much everything is the same. Vista was such a **** storm because it was an absolutely necessary 21st century upgrade to Windows to get it into the Virus era. Windows 8 was a necessary upgrade to get it into the mobile era. People weren't ready for a drastic change. Remember everyone crying about iOS7? Same basic idea, people aren't welcoming to drastic changes. Generally they prefer small changes over time which is why I think some OSs are more successful than others at not pissing off it's users. Like Android.

I of course often disagree with most people about OSs though. Most people love XP and talk about how amazing it is. But I will take Vista, 7 or 8 over it 10 times out of 10. XP is so slow and if you get a nasty virus you basically have to reinstall the OS. I've only had to reinstall the OS on my vista or newer computers like 2 times in the near decade I've owned them. Both of those times were hardware failure related as well I should specify. I've redone my parents XP computer 2 times in th elast 5 years for software related issues.

 

[ColoHox]

My wife and I each picked up an HP 14" chromebook for $270, and instantly wondered why we didnt get them sooner. A Mac was never an option as we have a strict apple-free household. My chromebook is faster and more versatile than the MacBooks I've played with that are easilly 4-5x more expensive. Really, I would prefer to fall into a pit of used syringes than purchase/use any apple products, and I know that sounds extreme.

I can remote connect to my widows 7 machine (because boo windows 8) for any .exe that I need, but that is a rarity.

My NAS, router, phones, media streaming, home security and automation, all run a version of android or chrome and the networking of these tools was a breeze. I am a huge fan of the chrome OS and all the new hardware.

 

[ubnserved]

But don't trust anyone but yourself for your data.[/QUOTE]

That is what I was going to say. Your pictures and data are only important to you so don't trust anyone to keep them safe.
I have gone a step further.... I keep one laptop for taxes that I can hook to Internet if needed, has vista I think. I also keep one server that stores and streams all our movies, music, pictures and of course runs Light ORama for the Christmas lights. Everything else is done on my Note 3 and before that a Motorola Photon with a dock for a bigger screen. Pretty much anything I can think of to do I can get accomplished on my phone.

 

[masonsjax]

I worked at Google for 10 years and got to play with some of the early chromebooks. At that point they were buggy and had major hardware problems. Once all of that was fixed, it was a good experience all around, but it wasn't designed for power users. We couldn't use them for real development work, they were designed to cover the majority of tasks the majority of users would be doing. They may have addressed some of the deal breakers for me by now, I haven't looked for a while, but I'm happy with my Linux stuff anyway. I might pick up a chromebook for SWMBO someday though, it would suit her needs perfectly.

 

[fredmercer]

Google . great if you like being tracked and all your personal info being stored and used for the Google machine to make billions . but some people love making Google richer by subjecting themselves to a no privacy internet experience .

 

[masonsjax]

It's been a long time since any kind of privacy like you're talking about existed. This is standard practice for every player in the game now. No sense singling out one Corp over any other.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Oops, forgot to quote somebody.

I have a chromebook as my internet browsing from the couch device. Love it for that. It isn't a PC replacement though.

As far as the whole windows 8/8.1 thing, I think people are massively overblowing it. People always ***** about every single major windows OS change then are fine with it when they realize that pretty much everything is the same. Vista was such a **** storm because it was an absolutely necessary 21st century upgrade to Windows to get it into the Virus era. Windows 8 was a necessary upgrade to get it into the mobile era. People weren't ready for a drastic change. Remember everyone crying about iOS7? Same basic idea, people aren't welcoming to drastic changes. Generally they prefer small changes over time which is why I think some OSs are more successful than others at not pissing off it's users. Like Android.

I of course often disagree with most people about OSs though. Most people love XP and talk about how amazing it is. But I will take Vista, 7 or 8 over it 10 times out of 10. XP is so slow and if you get a nasty virus you basically have to reinstall the OS. I've only had to reinstall the OS on my vista or newer computers like 2 times in the near decade I've owned them. Both of those times were hardware failure related as well I should specify. I've redone my parents XP computer 2 times in th elast 5 years for software related issues.

Well, that's what I like about chromebook, there is no need for anti-virus software. That's because you only install from the c-store.

 

[Schlenkerla]

It's been a long time since any kind of privacy like you're talking about existed. This is standard practice for every player in the game now. No sense singling out one Corp over any other.

There are encryption tools for uploading files to the cloud. I think boxcryper is one.

https://www.boxcryptor.com

Need to look for encryption extensions

 

[masonsjax]

I've got no problem with Google. I saw how the sausage was made and am convinced there's nothing to worry about. I was just feeding the paranoid troll that came here to spew hatred.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I've got no problem with Google. I saw how the sausage was made and am convinced there's nothing to worry about. I was just feeding the paranoid troll that came here to spew hatred.

Yeah, I know, you were easier to quote and shorter.

 

[unionrdr]

My extension for flash player in google chrome doesn't always want to work or load properly. Is there an extension unique to chrome?