Inspired To Use A Chromebook: But Can You Live With Just A Chrome Browser

By Author: Brooke M. Perry
Total Articles: 84
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Chromebook is yet a new entity in the domain of computing devices. At the Google I/O conference in May 2011, the first Chromebook was announced by Acer Inc and Samsung. However, the product got available for the users usage only by June 15, 2011. Hence, as of now Chromebook is just three years old in the market.

Although, the popularity and acceptance of this Linux-based laptop started at a slow note but today after three years of its launch, Chromebook has satisfactorily inspired many to accept this device as their full-time laptop. It is interesting to learn that today out of 20 best selling laptops, six are Chromebooks.

A product of Google, Chromebook runs on a Linux kernel-based Chrome operating system (OS) and just the Chrome browser operates on it. It is basically a laptop to run Internet supported tasks. Within a short period of time, this laptop has received high applauds for its performance - it boots fast, runs quickly, works perfectly, and handles Internet related tasks smoothly.

Yet in comparison to other laptops, Chromebooks have certain limitations as it runs on a restricted OS that has locked ...
... down the installation of any third party applications, which means you can run only Chrome browser and Google apps on it. Other browsers like Mozilla Firefox or IE doesn’t work upon it. These limitations make any potential user to have a second thought that will he be able to live with just a Chrome browser?

Does a laptop operational with only Chrome browser can be used as a full-time laptop? Yes off course, as it can get all your work done. The user needs the end result, as Chromebook is specially designed to perform Internet based tasks, so if the device succeeds in offering fast and comprehensive browsing experience to its users, most likely the need for an alternative browser will not even arise.

Can Chrome Browser Get All Your Work Done?

Many consider that Chromebook is an ideal choice for those, who want a laptop but have a budget constraint. However, do you know that why these computing devices are cheaply priced? It happens mainly because Google OS is tightly tied to Google’s browser. By design and structure, this combination is so effective that the device can afford to put aside the need for high spec hardware as the browser along with the multitude of online applications can get things done for you. Thus, Chromebook comes in low cost packages. It is actually the charm of technology when a high productivity idea can be packed in low price chassis.

Google has left no stone unturned to make its Chrome OS and browser single handedly efficient in handling day-to-day Internet and computing tasks. The UI of this Chrome laptop has many recognizable and interesting computing elements such as:

At the bottom-left of the screen there is a task bar
A start menu that launches apps
A space in the right hand corner to indicate time and various status
Switching between apps can be smoothly done with Alt-Tab

These are just a few elements of the Chrome browser UI, apart from that browser is unbelievably fast in its performance. If you use a Chrome laptop after using other regular laptop, you will feel relatively comfortable.

Again talking about the productivity of Chromebook in comparison to other laptops, let us divide the day-to-day usual computing jobs into three categories:

Emails
Office Productivity
And tools.

Your email concerns are baseless here, as the Chrome laptop offers amazing support. All email services, let it be Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Outlook are accessible through Chrome browser using some web-enabled access method.

With Chromebook everything will go in Google way, so very strictly you have to link up with Google tools and apps. So dealing with Office productivity tools like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint may become confusing and difficult on a Chrome laptop, but again Google has provided a way out with Google Docs, Google Sheets and other Google tools. In short, Chromebook has every tool and app to support your daily computing and browsing requirements, just that you might find it a bit different.

Wrap Up

If you are ready to get heavily committed with Google apps and its services, there is nothing that your Chrome laptop can’t do. But yet for your knowledge, you must know beforehand what will be your limitation if you go for this device. You will not be able to take up heavy duty office usage, native Windows apps or any other apps will not work on it and no other cloud storage will be accessible, only you will be able to access Google Cloud storage.

Looking at the market, it seems people are quite comfortable working on these devices. They are getting benefited in terms of money value as well. That is why almost all leading manufacturers like Acer, Dell, Toshiba, Samsung, etc are dedicatedly designing and launching heir Chrome laptops.

About the Author: Brooke M. Perry is an ardent technician associated with Qresolve online tablet support, with wide experience of fixing issues with PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones. With a strong track record of devising effective ways of online laptop support and system security, she has so far helped thousands of users across the globe. Her writings on tech issues are the reflection of her in-depth interest and command she carries as a online pc repair technician. Her blogs and articles have been rated high for their lucid style and easy to understand language.