Verdict
ChromeOS may not be a Shangri-la for the tech head , but the world would be a poor topographic point without it . The Chromebooks it powers provide the most affordable , least head ache - inducing solution for folks who need a cheap data processor that is well-heeled to use and does not run too slowly with limited specs .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
ChromeOS is the software used in Chromebooks . It ’s made by Google , and there ’s a lot more to it than the Chrome internet browser app you may have used before .
This is a complete operating system , a key aspect of the budget laptop computer and hybrid tablet / laptop food market . But is it any expert ?
For a lot of folks , it is idealistic , particularly those who want a wide-eyed microcomputer to cover some home office basic and light entertainment .
However , you should not buy a ChromeOS PC without understanding its limitations , and the kinds of software program it can not run . Let ’s turn over in .
Design
If you have some experience with the Android software on phone and tablets , ChromeOS may seem quite familiar . The two are not the same , but there ’s a sealed stylistic similarity . They are both made by Google , after all .
It ’s for the most part a place where your rounded , well-disposed - looking app icons live .
The big difference between ChromeOS and Windows orMacOSis that your default place screen door is fundamentally a dead quad . You do n’t drop app shortcut here , or thingamajig .
It ’s a white infinite onto which the app windows you open can sit . This vogue is all about zero - mare’s nest simpleness .
To further prove that period , the key dominance in the master ChromeOS window is called the Everything push . It loads up a Elvis of your installed apps .
There ’s also a rather MacOS - alike sorrel of handy app crosscut along the bottom of the screen . It ’s made up of apps you’re able to place there manually , and apps that are function .
If you buy a intercrossed Chromebook you may also get to meet the other more tablet - like side of ChromeOS .
This is where the chief scene becomes a ocean of app icon . And when you unfold up an app , it takes up the whole silver screen . With the more laptop computer - like Chromebook view you could move multiple apps about in scalable windows , just as you might do with a more traditional Windows or MacBook laptop . Here ’s what the tablet view looks like :
While I find ChromeOS quite restrictive , as a person who has tinkered with Windows and MacOS for decade , I can also appreciate how there ’s so piffling to flurry or get wrong here . I even get the mother wit ChromeOS ’s preferences card is n’t really designed to be used that often by the average punter . It ’s what you ask , and a little more .
Customisation
One downside of ChromeOS ’s permeant restraint is there ’s not much you may do with a Chromebook to make it feel your own .
The arrangement ’s Personalisation section is minimal . you may convert the wallpaper , and the screensaver , and choose whether to use the Light or Dark interface theme .
As in a New phone , Dark mode pass water light text edition on a dour grey background , rather than black textual matter on a white ground .
This aside , your only nonremittal customisation is what apps to put in the dock at the bottom of the home screen .
There is a workaround to get widgets on your dwelling house CRT screen . But it ’s not a especially estimable one . Install Taskbar from Google Play and you could condition a window pane of Android widgets , which you could bring up at any time . However , it ’s not the same as widgets actually being sit down on your Chromebook ’s screen .
This was something I only looked into as part of this critical review , having used Chromebooks for years . And , frankly , I was not that impressed by how it felt in purpose .
Apps and Software
ChromeOS is not what it used to be , in a positive sense . In its other years , more than a decade ago , Chromebooks were think to be used solely on-line . They are much more broadly utile than in those days .
The stem selection of preinstalled apps still let in online Google ducky like Docs , Gmail and so on . But since 2016 , Chromebooks have also pop the question Android app financial backing .
These do n’t always run utterly , but this functionality has completely dominate the ChomeOS apps and extensions you used to have to apply . Google is in the process of winding down that sure-enough system entirely .
The caution , other than compatibility and carrying out , is that you wo n’t chance all the Android apps available to the medium earpiece or tablet . For model , there ’s no Microsoft Office 365 reinforcement .
you’re able to ply some of the other third - company post suite , though , include WPF Office and Mobi Systems OficeSuite .
Streaming divine service support is good , though . Netflix , Disney+ , Prime Video , Mubi , NOW – they are all here . Apple TV+ is not , but that is no surprisal .
You should also bear in judgment ChromeOS is comparatively weak for creative fields like digital nontextual matter and medicine origination . There ’s no access to pro - grade software suites . And while some mobile version of pro apps are here , like Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom , Apple ’s iPad is a band just for originative jobs .
Updates
At the time of follow-up , ChromeOS is at version 114 . Releases arrive around once a month , and these are just the “ mainstream ” handout mean for the worldwide populace .
Google makes it a doddle to switch to the Beta and Developer channel , for more intrepid users . Beta offer new features quicker than the default Stable modality , but you may encounter more bugs . Developer mode offers updates that are still effectively in progression , with young releases often a yoke of fourth dimension a week .
I recommend stand by to the Stable musical mode unless there ’s something you already get it on about and desire to check out . Unlike most Android earpiece you do n’t have to wait month after month for update to arrive , because there is no extra level of manufacturer software here .
These software update do n’t last forever , though . Each example has an AUE , an “ auto update loss ” escort . All Chromebooks total with at least five long time of updates from their original release , but the large late releases seem to be getting 7 or 8 year of support . Googlerecently announcedthis was being expanded to 10 years of support on Chromebooks launched in 2021 or newer .
you may even check up on out these engagement for yourself . All mannikin ’ expiration date are listed on the Google Supportwebsite .
Performance and Gaming
ChromeOS is the polar opposite of Windows , based on our experience of review Chromebooks for years .
With Windows , you could ask a scrap of a rough sentence if you attempt to lam it on shoe string hardware , but the voltage of a potent Windows PCs is unparalleled . ChromeOS ’s key benefit shine on weak hardware , but the system is just not very in force at making the most of a powerful central processor and loads of RAM .
This is why my favourite Chromebooks are typically some of the cheapest ace you may happen that still have a decent - lineament informatics screen .
Why ? The more advanced biz and apps do n’t typically run all that well on ChromeOS . It ’s down to the version layer ChromeOS uses to make Android apps pass . An innovative game you might expect to run decently well on an Android phone or tablet will typically run poorly on an entry - level or scummy - mid - range Chromebook .
I ’m speak about slow load , and poor frame rates . And you ’ll still see some compatibility niggles , like apps that load as earphone - size window initially , a reminder that what you are running was not made for the thing you are using to hunt it .
thing have improved in more late year , with Vulkan API reenforcement for some good example and rudimentary improvements . As part of this ChromeOS summary , I went back to theHP Chromebook x2 , and it can play most high - end Android games OK , despite sputter a bit with Ark : Survival develop . It ’s likely helped by using a Qualcomm CPU that is very standardised to the kind used in Android machine .
Top - tier Chromebooks with Intel Core - series central processor can take the beastly force approach here to an extent . But I tend to sputter to recommend costly Chromebooks to most folks . The amount of things you’re able to do on a powerful Chromebook pale in compare to what you’re able to do on a mid - range Windows laptop computer .
Decades of gaming history , pro - grade apps used by material manufacture master – this stuff does not practice when dealing with a Chromebook .
However , there ’s still a lot of fun to be had here . A crew of the larger - scale Android game are available on ChromeOS , include Star Wars : KOTOR II , Grand Theft Auto III , Genshin Impact and Stardew Valley , alongside mobile favourites like Five Nights and Freddy ’s and Bloods T.D. 6 .
The new stuff ? Not so much . However , ChromeOS finally got Minecraft in June 2023 . I ’ve been waiting year for that to happen . It ’s just a shame it cost £ 19.49 , rather than the £ 6.99 you ’d give on Android . Or £ 12.50 if you already own the Android version . Still , that ’s potentially scores or hundreds of hours of entertainment right there .
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Should you buy it?
This scheme excel at allow the basics of computing to people who do not want to spend too much money . Its interface is relatively mere to interpret , and core system pilotage tends to feel better powered by cheap hardware than Windows would .
While you could run plenty of apps , they will be wandering versions rather than the pro - plane apps you could use in Windows . And if you buy a bottom - rundle Chromebook , you ’re probable to find it struggles to play some secret plan well .
Final Thoughts
ChromeOS is a neat operating organisation that offers something a petty different to Windows or MacOS . It ’s not really a verbatim choice to those systems , even though a Windows laptop is always the top challenger to a Chromebook .
The organization is still the practiced option for those who want a meretricious productivity computer and do n’t want to put up with the annoyingly slow feel of a low - powered Windows PC .
After 12 years of development , ChromeOS arguably has n’t go on as much as it could have . But its office in the technical school landscape painting is still deserved . If you ’re look at a ChromeOS twist , theHP Chromebook X2 11is our favourite budget cream right now , or check out ourbest Chromebooksguide .
Trusted Score
How we test
examination was carried out through our real - earthly concern experience with this operating scheme . The OS was tested for apps , software system and compatibility capability , alongside the testing of new feature of speech added to this version of the operating system .
FAQs
ChromeOS Flex can be install on many laptop computer , admit some MacBooks , using a Google installer
It can only run apps made for Android and Chrome , not Windows .
No , you may not range the Windows version , or the Android version at nowadays .
