See for my mum it would be the complete opposite, plus I have a great distrust for Google, and don't trust the security of a google powered device.For many people a Chromebook is a much better choice than a Windows laptop, especially if they arn't very tech savvy and will rely on someone else to maintain it for themselves.
When my mum switched from Windows to Chromebook... ah was nirvana.
You must be the first person I have spoken to who has a great distrust for Google but apparently not for Microsoft.
Anybody who has a real distrust of a supplier of an operating system really should move over to Linux in one form or another. It's not that Linux is inherently safe for any technical reason, as the criminal community would happily move their nefarious activities to focus on it if thre wasn't such a large untapped supply of victims with commercial OS. What makes Linux relatively much safer is that it is used, maintained and tested by a huge user base of expert users. News of weaknesses, vulnerabilities and their consequential fixes travels fast. With no real commercial protectionist secrecy issues, there is a constant conversation across the expert user world to ensure that these fixes are implmented, - all at zero cost to the user.
Which I have done
Unfortunately the operative phrase there is "where they are practical". Microsoft has done an excellent job of tying people into their platform and - at least in the past - bribing hardware manufacturers so that it is almost the only thing they will support, despite the fact that Windows is not actually a very good piece of software.
It's a combination of laziness and complication for me. I have two main PCs, the one I am using here is a low spec i3 desktop which is an 'office' machine in that it has most general purpose programs installed including Office 13 Enterprise (courtesy of my wife's employer's staff scheme to buy for about £10). It's easy, familiar for me, but I'm also quite happy to use Libre Office. Unfortunately her preference is MS and she doesn't want to try the freebie and 'renting' office software for domestic use is not the way to go. One program that isn't available to Linux is Sony/Magix Vegas Pro which I sometimes use for quick video editing. There doesn't seem to be any equivalent that runs under Linux.Which I have done
View attachment 108047
Unfortunately the operative phrase there is "where they are practical". Microsoft has done an excellent job of tying people into their platform and - at least in the past - bribing hardware manufacturers so that it is almost the only thing they will support, despite the fact that Windows is not actually a very good piece of software.
In my opinion this gives Microsoft a dangerous amount of control over personal computing, particularly with the ever-increasing integration of network functionality dependant on their backends. Everything I need to do on my home computer can be done on a Linux system, so that's what I use. I appreciate that's not the case for everyone, but for me - if Microsoft want me back using Windows they will have to make it a nice experience to use and also relinquish the undeserved control it gives them over what MY hardware. I can't see that happening any time soon though.
There are at least a couple of Android phones out there.
You and me both. I’m waiting for the 2022 editionI'd much rather a MacBook
The idea is that Windows is overcomplicated for what the vast majority of people need. They are very suitable for educational purposes where the "limited functionality" is actually an advantage. One of my friends is the de-facto IT admin for her school and she spends a lot of her time uninstalling applications that the students have downloaded and installed.
They used to be. But then hardware manufacturers realised that it was cutting into their profit margins and started adding features (read "increasing prices significantly").
Chrome OS to be precise. It's a bit more than just the browser.
Indeed mine also runs a sandboxed Linux install though i meant from the point of view of a normal user not a geek weirdo like me.
I'm of the same opinion, I can see the point about the chromebook being a bit more simple and if web-browsing and a few apps etc is about the limit of what you're ever going to do it might make sense.
If a Windows computer is set up correctly for institutional/work use then installing apps can be prohibited, and to be honest with Windows 10 I wouldn't have thought it was any more bloated than Chrome OS or any mobile OS now given how complicated phones are now. I would say there is nothing bloated about any of my Windows 10 installs (some Pentium dual-core machines that were upgraded from XP) and even variants of W10 will run on ARM processors, my old lumia 950 windows phone can even emulate a windows desktop. My mum had one of the dell XPS 10 windows 8 ARM based systems and that worked fine for her use.
You don't get the flexibility and agility for nothing. You have the risk of installing malicious software by clicking a link in an email. If you run a virus scanner, then this will lock up your machine sometimes when it runs a scan. When the operating system supports a wide range of hardware and software, then operating system updates are more frequent, and more complex.
And that phrase right there makes it clear that you are definitely not the target audience for a Chromebook.
but I would agree, I want so much more out of my gear than a chromebook would ever entertain, but I don't put it down to hardware limitation as small mobile processors are actually quite power friendly and potentI think the point is that the vast majority of users spend absolutely none of their time programming firmware. Not just a little bit, but absolutely none.well that's the thing, I probably do several days of web browsing for every 3 seconds spent programming firmware, but that ratio doesn't help at all does it - one does one thing well, and the other does, well anything mostly well.
Not bashing the chromebook of course
