ChromeOS as up-and-coming underdog

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Y’all know how much I prefer Chromebooks to Windows computers. Far as I’m concerned, for folks who don’t absolutely require Windows programs, the Chro
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Everything snoops anymore. Hard to find a OS, application, or service that does not snoop. I completely agree with the argument that Chrome devices can most certainly be used in place of Windows. Unless your absolutely tied to a application only available on Windows. The simplicity of a Chrome device would benefit many. If your trying to avoid the snooping aspect of any OS. These days, your probably limited to a Linux desktop OS to really have any significant focus of privacy control. Even then, that’s a big if depending on how you use the Linux OS. I see businesses all the time relying on non traditional technology. From iPads, to Chromebooks, and they seem to work fine without Windows.

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New Beginnings: CrossOver on Chrome OS
by Jeremy White
November 7th, 2017
New Beginnings: CrossOver on Chrome OS

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The CW article says:

“And during an exercise in 2013, many of the Windows-based laptops required almost half an hour to apply updates and restart prior to being ready to respond to the training exercise.”

This throws into question the validity of the “exercise.” My first reaction was that they were running Windows 10 and it serves them right for choosing that version, but then I realized it said 2013. This being before Windows 10 was released, it means that they had a choice of when to download and apply updates. In an emergency, why would you let Windows bring things to a crawl by downloading updates? For emergency equipment, why would you even set Windows to download/install patches on its own schedule? Updating is something that needs to be done during downtimes — you can’t run the risk of some stupid update getting in the way when you actually need the PC at peak performance. Set the laptops to “don’t download and don’t install” until you won’t be needing the machines.

And @Woody, for those of us who are skeptical of Windows 10’s respect for privacy, switching to a Chromebook is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

Nuh-uh, I am not considering Chromebooks.

 

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Elly

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The real issue against any OS is that specific application that has no equivalent on the other OSes. For web-based apps, any OS should do so it only some legacy apps that must be installed on each box that is problem. In reality this is likely more of a business issue than consumer one. For many, the legacy issue is not so much there is no equivalent is they are reluctant to try an equivalent.

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You touched on a couple of crucial concerns that probaly alone wont make me consider  jumping to a Chromebook yet which are basically Google’s voracious appetite for user data and being virtually useless without a net connection, those two alone raise a few flags but theres a third consideration. Whilst at the moment they are mercifully almost free of security concerns they are sure to be a target for Malware and all the “little nasties” roaming around on the net once they become mainstream and given that they are not as fully functioning without an “always on” connection and the fact that they require to be connected to “Google’s mothership” whose to say that some enterprising “Hacker” wont find a way in.  Although at least you wont be subject to the monthly “nail biting” exercise that patch Tuesday has become just lately  

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Elly

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Nevermind ChromeOS is just a glorified version of Android.

I’m a meteorologist and burgeoning motorsports historian; I need heavy duty computing power.  ChromeOS is only useful for people that only futz around the net and write small word documents.

Fortran, C++, R, Python, Java, Matlab, HTML, CSS, etc.... coding is fun!
A weatherman that can code

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That everything snoops and should be accepted as is attitude is just why it happens. You need people with high visibility (and you are one Woody) fighting it tooth and nail, campaigns to spur lawmakers into more action… And of course alternatives, preferably open source community-run affairs at least for large projects (small ones can be run by a small independent team or even single person if trusted to do things right – IrfanView’s still around and doing well after all).

And yep, Linux (probably not Ubuntu though) definitely needs a lot more TLC, from developers first, to make things work cross-platform. Typical office work and multimedia is covered, but security software (and, ahem, fully customizable application level firewalls and probably also HIPS – which are dying even on Windows but should be basic requirements, the part about security software intelligently deciding what to do being the optional, higher-end stuff) may be the first issue due to the mindset that it’s not needed on Linux yet it’s hard to come from Windows and feel in any way safe without it and, either way, if Linux will gain any decent following it will be needed right away, and then gaming is probably a huge aspect, both in terms of the actual games and the drivers and additional software for high-end (or even midrange) gaming peripherals… And, of course, make it as easy to install and uninstall and patch programs as it is on Windows.

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While it may seem that snooping is an issue with (Google) Chrome, the ease of use might counter that to a degree, especially for those that are less inclined to get into the details of what we try to help each other with around here.

I have friends that simply want a unit that runs & don’t want to be bothered by system updates or program updates.  These types don’t text much or have their noses in smart phones excessively.

It’s just a bummer that we are relatively stuck with what we have until something better comes along.  Maybe I enjoy lamenting the good ole days when XP was so good.  I will still be forced to make a change at some point.  So yeah, probably more Linux experimentation is required.  Or something similar.

Win 8.1 (home & pro) Group B, W10/11 Avoider, Linux Dabbler

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The fact that Google snoops through ChromeOS is exactly the one reason I won’t use it.

 

Non-techy Win 10 Pro and Linux Mint experimenter

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Cybertooth

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Anything that Chromebooks can do but not iPad?

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sell for less than $500, and include a physical keyboard, for starters.

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So far, they have very few security holes…Google snoops mercilessly.

For some reason, everyone seems to think that Google is more secure. I guess you could say that, if you don’t mind Google spying on everything you do. To me, that is not secure in any way, shape, or form.

As far as Linux not showing up much in the numbers, it is very possible that companies purchased computers with some other OS on them and then replaced that OS with Linux. If this is the case, these computers wouldn’t show up in the Linux numbers, but rather in the numbers of the OS they originally came with.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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When your billable rate is in the hundreds, productivity is the only concern.

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I just anonymous posted this message by mistake.  MVPs, if you can, please delete the anon version.

I don’t know about what is good for a “regular” user.  The only “regular” userI really know has become a devoted iPad fan, having dumped Windows and the PC almost as soon as the first iPad arrived on the scene.

This intrepid Apple convert recently bought a Chromebook and declared it useless, for reasons I do not know.  It’s one anecdote among millions, to be sure, but he’s the epitome of the perpetual “beginner” user who only wants to use things and not have to learn how to use them first… and the iPad, with all its limitations, suits him perfectly.  He loves Apple for its rules and restrictions and walled garden; he openly admits that he likes them specifically because they do the thinking for him (though not in that exact phrasing).

I don’t have a firsthand opinion about Chromebooks either, never having seen one, let alone used one.

If I don’t need specific Windows programs, that’s the last hurdle to going Linux full-time for me. If all I really need is a browser, it’s certainly not going to be Chrome.  It’s one of the Firefox derivatives or it’s nothing.  I have very specific and rigid specifications on what a UI must look and feel like, and the only browser I’ve seen that is in current development that matches what I require is Pale Moon.  Firefox and Waterfox also meet the standard if the right addons are installed, though that won’t be true of Firefox proper for much longer.  Nothing else I tried is even in the ballpark.

That’s just browsers, of course.  The OS UI is something different again, but given how bad the Chrome UI is, as I see it, I don’t suspect ChromeOS is going to be anything I would want either (and that’s just the UI; the spying is an even bigger issue, and it’s not something I am prepared to tolerate). I don’t want something simple (meaning “take it as it is and don’t worry your pretty little head about not having options… we’ve preselected all the options we want you to have, so just use it and be quiet about it, little one”).

I want something I can fold, spindle, and mutilate until it looks and acts the way I want it to be rather than the way some corporation thinks will be the best for their bottom line.  Better still would be if I didn’t have to modify it to the nth degree to get it where I want it, but what I consider a proper UI has gone out of fashion, so naturally things have to be changed for the sake of being new and different and exciting enough to generate more sales, rather than just being ploddingly familiar and usable.  The pulldown menu with menu-bar UI that Mac popularized 30 plus years ago may not excite anyone anymore, but it beats the heck out of a hamburger menu, the ribbon, or a chromeless gesture-based UI with disappearing UI elements.

Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
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I don’t know about what is good for a “regular” user.  The only “regular” user I really know has become a devoted iPad fan, having dumped Windows and the PC almost as soon as the first iPad arrived on the scene.

This intrepid Apple convert recently bought a Chromebook and declared it useless, for reasons I do not know.  It’s one anecdote among millions, to be sure, but he’s the epitome of the perpetual “beginner” user who only wants to use things and not have to learn how to use them first… and the iPad, with all its limitations, suits him perfectly.  He loves Apple for its rules and restrictions and walled garden; he openly admits that he likes them specifically because they do the thinking for him (though not in that exact phrasing).

I don’t have a firsthand opinion about Chromebooks either, never having seen one, let alone used one.

If I don’t need specific Windows programs, that’s the last hurdle to going Linux full-time for me. If all I really need is a browser, it’s certainly not going to be Chrome.  It’s one of the Firefox derivatives or it’s nothing.  I have very specific and rigid specifications on what a UI must look and feel like, and the only browser I’ve seen that is in current development that matches what I require is Pale Moon.  Firefox and Waterfox also meet the standard if the right addons are installed, though that won’t be true of Firefox proper for much longer.  Nothing else I tried is even in the ballpark.

That’s just browsers, of course.  The OS UI is something different again, but given how bad the Chrome UI is, as I see it, I don’t suspect ChromeOS is going to be anything I would want either (and that’s just the UI; the spying is an even bigger issue, and it’s not something I am prepared to tolerate). I don’t want something simple (meaning “take it as it is and don’t worry your pretty little head about not having options… we’ve preselected all the options we want you to have, so just use it and be quiet about it, little one”).

I want something I can fold, spindle, and mutilate until it looks and acts the way I want it to be, rather than the way some corporation thinks will be the best for their bottom line.  Better still would be if I didn’t have to modify it to the nth degree to get it where I want it, but what I consider a proper UI has gone out of fashion, so naturally things have to be changed for the sake of being new and different and exciting enough to generate more sales, rather than just being ploddingly familiar and usable.  The pulldown menu with menu-bar UI that Mac popularized 30 plus years ago may not excite anyone anymore, but it beats the heck out of a hamburger menu, the ribbon, or a chromeless gesture-based UI with disappearing UI elements.

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