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Chromebooks: An Overview

Chromebooks are laptop-style portable personal computers that run Google’s Chrome OS operating system. It is based on Linux and inherits much of the stability and security that Linux is famous for.

ChromeOS supports a variety of USB devices, including cameras, mice, and flash drives, and employees have a verified boot feature, allowing the system to verify system integrity and potential security breaches at startup.

However, since Chromebooks are designed to be used while connected to the Internet, their user interface consists of a variation of Google’s Chrome web browser, with a built-in media player and file manager. No other native applications are provided and as a result its offline capabilities are somewhat limited compared to a standard laptop.

Instead of installing native software on the Chromebook, as they would on other types of operating system, users are expected to take advantage of online services, like Google’s GMail email service, for example, or install web apps from Chrome. App Store.

This approach ensures that the user is always automatically presented with the latest version of their favorite software, without being constantly prompted to install updates. It also means that a lost, stolen, or damaged Chromebook doesn’t have to cost the user their important documents, since in most cases, the files are stored in online repositories, such as Google Drive, rather than the own. machine. The user only needs to get a new Chromebook, then log in with their Google account, to have virtually instant access to their documents, settings and applications.

While this is useful, and despite efforts to make web applications at least partially functional offline, the inevitable consequence is that, without internet access, a Chromebook is not at its best. It follows that they are more suitable for use in areas where access to the network, whether via WiFi or a cellular connection, is ubiquitous and reliable.

Ideal settings include school and college campuses. Here, and in similar establishments, wireless networks are widely available, and a routine need to access information and documents quickly and easily from a variety of locations makes a small, inexpensive, highly portable, and Internet-capable device. extremely desirable.

To meet these needs, Chromebooks are designed to be lightweight and easy to transport, with an emphasis on low cost and quick start; Many of the models on the market can go from a cold start to a fully functional web browsing session in much less than 30 seconds. Most of them are built around Intel’s relatively inexpensive Atom or Celeron processors, feature 2GB of RAM along with a 16GB solid-state drive (SSD) for permanent storage, weigh around 3 pounds, and sports displays that they measure approximately 12 inches diagonally.

Naturally, some models deviate from this general theme to some degree. For example, Samsung’s XE550C22 Series 5 Chromebook features 4GB of RAM, while the Series 3 XE303C12 is built around Samsung’s ARM-based Exynos 5 Dual System on a chip rather than an Intel processor, the Acer C7 uses a 320GB hard drive instead. from an SSD, and Hewlett Packard’s Chromebook Pavilion has a 14-inch screen that outshines other models.

Yet despite these minor physical variations, most Chromebooks share a considerable degree of common ground: an HD webcam and two USB 2.0 ports are pretty standard, for example, while optical drives seem to have no place. On the line. This is an understandable omission in view of the need to keep these machines as light as possible; An optical drive is essentially redundant when an Internet connection is expected to be present at almost all times for online backup, software installation, and entertainment streaming.

Chromebooks also feature a custom keyboard, which includes dedicated keys for opening and controlling multiple browser windows, and a web search button where the Caps Lock key is usually found; To activate Caps Lock, the user must press ALT + the Search key. While one-key search can be useful for some people, it’s easy to see how it can be terribly inconvenient for users who use caps lock on a regular basis. Fortunately, the search key can be persuaded to work like a standard caps lock key with a simple change on the Chromebook settings page.

Although the first Chromebooks received a distinctly lukewarm welcome, due in large part to their unexpectedly high price tag and limited offline functionality, recent price drops and improvements in their offline capabilities have made current models more much more popular than its predecessors. They are clearly no match for a standalone laptop, but they are not meant to be either. Their goal is, first and foremost, to provide low-cost, reliable, secure and easily portable Internet access in a form factor that allows you to get real work done. The latest Chromebooks are on their way to reaching that goal, and it’s easy to see why, within their target market, they’re starting to look like serious contenders.

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