Is Chrome OS proper for you? A three-question quiz to find out

Google’s Chrome OS is one of the most misunderstood computing structures in the world. Chromebooks are foundationally one-of-a-kind from traditional PCs, after all; therefore, there are a lot of misconceptions about how they paint and what they can and can not do. Being Mad

Since people constantly ask me whether a Chromebook is right for them, I thought I’d put together a short guide to help them figure it out. Whether you or someone curious, the following three questions will shed a little light on the platform and who it makes sense for.

1. Do you spend most of your time using the web and web-centric offerings?

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Think carefully here, as the solution would marvel you: What do you do most customarily on a PC?

If most of the people it is slow is spent in a web browser- analyzing news stories, browsing social media, or using internet-centric offerings like Gmail and Google Docs- then Chrome OS would probably meet your wishes just exceptional. In truth, there’s a terrific chance it would make matters easier than what you’re used to with a conventional PC setup (more on why in a minute).

It is essential to say that simply because something is “internet-centric” does not always mean you need to be online for it to paint. One of the most common misconceptions about Chromebooks is that they’re completely useless without an active internet connection. (You can browse via the “Offline” phase of Google’s Chrome Web Store for lots more examples.) in truth, a large and ever-increasing wide variety of Chrome OS-well matched apps works online and offline, together with things like Gmail and Google Docs and calculator apps, calendar apps, information-analyzing apps, games, etc, and even Google Play Movies.

The truth is that for most people, using a Chromebook offline isn’t terribly different from using a conventional PC offline. You are not going to get on the internet or download new content material, glaringly, but other than things that inherently require a lively connection, there is not a heck of plenty you would want to do that wouldn’t be available.

2. Do you have unique nearby applications that you truly need, or could most of the stuff you do on a PC be done with web-centric (and/or Android app) equivalents?

Take a second to consider what programs you use that can be domestically installed on your PC — phrases processors, email apps, image and video editing software programs, useful resource-extensive video games, or area of expertise software programs you need for your work.

Now think about how lots of those programs may want to or could not get replaced with internet-centric equivalents and Android apps — the latter of which are now available to put in and use on a growing wide variety of Chrome OS devices (and make no mistake approximately it: Their presence is a pretty huge deal).

If you use Outlook for email, for example, would you be okay with using Microsoft’s Outlook.com or Google’s Gmail instead or the Android app? If you rely on Microsoft Word on your PC, might Microsoft’s Office Online app or Google’s Google Docs application do the trick just as properly — or could you get using the Word Android app, which requires a lively subscription for complete modifying functionality? If you use Adobe Photoshop for photo enhancement, might an internet-centric suite like Pixlr be powerful enough for your needs? Or would one of the many Android photo-editing apps (Adobe-made or in any other case) be sufficient for your desires?

If the answers are “yes” or “perhaps,” then Chrome OS should be right for you. However, if you have a particular nearby software program that you virtually need and has no appropriate web-centric or Android app equivalent, getting into a Chromebook might be a stretch. While Chrome OS has many viable options for not unusual normal computing obligations, you will not locate any strong multimedia editors designed for the web, nor will you find internet-centric variations of many specialty enterprise programs created with Windows in mind. The Android app availability may additionally fill a number of the voids, but it can’t cover them all (specifically in terms of the custom company program class).

There is one more asterisk: Google gives an easy tool known as Chrome Remote Desktop that helps you tap into a traditional PC from a Chromebook and paint on it remotely. With that device, you could use neighborhood PC software through the Chromebook, which is furnished with a PC and available for faraway consultation. It’s now not entirely ideal, but depending on your scenario and how you often use the local PC software program, it might be sufficient to bridge the distance.

Three. Try living simply inside the Chrome browser on your PC for a week without establishing any nearby packages. How does it sense?

This is the real test. Spend a couple of minutes browsing through the Chrome Web Store to locate the tools you need, then provide it a sincere cross. And let’s be clear: For this to paintings, you’ll probably make a few modifications to your habitual — switching to net-centric apps like Docs for phrase processing if you haven’t already, uploading any pertinent files to an Internet storage provider like Dropbox or Drive, and so forth.

Optional: If you experience such as you want the presence of Android apps to bridge the distance, clutch Bluestacks — a free PC- and Mac-compatible application that lets you use Android apps on a traditional OS computer. It isn’t always the best and is some distance less native-feeling than what you’ll get with Chrome OS (it essentially just puts an emulated Android pill into a window for your display screen, and then you click on round on it to put in, and run something apps you need), but for those take a look at-run functions, it ought to be appropriately sufficient to present you a basic concept of what types of matters you will and might not be able to do.

If you ignore your neighborhood PC programs every week and get everything you need to be executed for your browser and Android apps without trouble, Chrome OS will be just right for you. If it’s a battle, you may want to assume twice about going the Chromebook route.

Now, remember that that is simply a simulation — a take a look at the fundamental gear and barriers of the Chrome OS environment. Crucially, at the same time as the restrictions are similar, using the simplest browser on a PC is not the same as what’d get on a real Chromebook, Ador roid appappr no longer. (That’s another one of those pesky Chrome OS myths.)