Chrome OS vs Windows, whats better?
Chrome OS vs Windows?
ChromeOS is lighter weight OS and so the laptops last longer battery life and lower cost hardware.
My work moved to Office365 which means online file sharing online apps so actually means I dont need a Windoze laptop so much.
Chromebooks are very very good.
I put my Chromebook into developer mode, installed Ubuntu to solve a few problems challening in ChromeOS like VLC player for media formats not supported and to run Firefox for a few features, but I’m mostly in ChromeOS for its speed and battery life.
So windows: bloat, heavy, expensive but more featured.
ChromeOS: lighter, cheaper but less features, will work for most people for 99% of their needs.
Depends what task you are aiming to complete. Chrome OS is essentially a web / thin client OS that is, in my opinion, best suited to lightweight tasks of basic web browsing and/or office oriented tasks such as word processing, spreadsheets etc.
If you are wanting to do multimedia rich tasks, such as video/audio editing, or just accessing windows based shares and drives, they are not best suited at all
I use a server and remote into it. Server has oodles of everything including weight and power needs. That keeps what in my bag/hand lighter and lower cost given most of my gadgets do well to last 2 years (wear, accident).
I keep a Windows VM I can wake up on my server so I can dip into Windows from ChromeOS, Android, etc.
I was given a Windows work latop, I blasted it with Ubuntu 16.04 and put Windows in a VM I boot up as required.
Typed in Chrome on Ubuntu.
For IT chaps (and girls), yes it is a light weight OS alternative to connect to processing power in the background such as server’s, VM’s etc etc and yet complete basic tasks on the run, with integrated Google services to boot (Gmail, Drive etc)
For the average end user though who would seldom do more than web browsing, iTunes, DVD/BD playback, Office and some generic gaming (of which a lot are Windows orientated), the Chrome OS is unlikely to suffice. I have also found it to be not overly cheaper either compared to some Windows laptops (£40-ish) which can do tasks that Chrome OS can’t, plus can be upgraded to an extent…
None of anyone I know in real life plays games on a desktop, they use their mobiles, some may still use a console.
I more commonly see media consumption on larger devices like laptops and Chromebooks do that just fine.
Average end users spend most of their time in browser.
For me it is Windows
Not comparable. That’s like Windows vs iOS, two different operating systems designed for different uses.
To completely different things/uses.
Its like a Ford Truck vs John Deer Tractor…
Also you can’t do much with ChromeOS being offline.
I love Chrome OS. When I had a Chromebook I could type, browse, stream, forever. The only setback for me is pc gaming. Not really a lot of games for the thing, can’t play online with others (I’m talking WoW and Guild Wars etc). But the simplicity of Chrome is incredible. A friend of ours, elderly and senior, wanted a laptop but didn’t know which one to get. I let her borrow it for a day and she loved it, so then I let her keep it. She can play solitaire, email her friends, and Facebook it up, virus-free and performance-friendly! Have yet to hear a peep out of her since.
If I could find a way to get work to move over to them, I would …
I have to agree Windows and Chrome are not the same thing at all. One is clearly just a browser with better performance, the other is a powerhouse for everything else.
ChromeOS does have offline capability, but you must manually select for it to be capable of being offline so you must know in advance. You can also save-as to local storage say a SD card then its behaving more in an offline capability
What I did with my Chromebook is developer mode, install crouton then Ubuntu (I think Trusty is still the recommended stable version), then WINE, and loaded up some windows apps.
Now what happens in more corporate work situations is the move to Office365 so you have apps in browsers and you can download files.
The world is becoming more Chromebook-friendly.
That’s the influence of gearing everything towards ‘being in the cloud’ , Google were just ahead of the curve compared to others
For iOS lovers, a ChromeBook I’ve found can be a good laptop alternative as they are used to store apps and a locked down interface (outside of developer modding). For those who like to mess and have more freedom, it’s Windows (for me, that being version 7 Pro).
Definitely Windows - and the only reason for me is :
compatibility