I used ChromeOS exclusively for two weeks — here's how that went

[admin]

I tried using ChromeOS as my only desktop operating system on my professional workstation and my laptop while on vacation. Despite its advancements over the years, I did not find it sufficient for my needs.

I used ChromeOS exclusively for two weeks — here's how that went : Read more

 

[Rich 1944]

The whole point of Chrome OS Flex is for people that don't need specialized apps. It is basically Chrome Browser based with Gmail and you can add a second outside email like my Internet provider email that I have had since cable internet came to Orlando.

I have, what I will call, my main computer which I use for Turbotax, downloading files, some video editing, Streaming, Over the Air TV, and recording the programs. Also recording TV shows and movies from On Demand services that I subscribe to using PlayOn (which is legal since the Betamax - HBO decision a hundred years ago in internet time). If you pay for it then you can copy it and actually a lot more if you look up the decision, as long as you don't make money. But I digress.

I have a laptop and I have an older computer that I used for work when I was self-employed (retired now) and I don't want to and actually can't upgrade them to Windows 11, so I tried out Flex. Most people use a browser and email and just about everything they do is browser-based. Flex is for them and me on my two other computers. I have been using It for a couple of months now and it is fine for that job.

Now if you are lucky enough to have in your bios something called Virtualization and you can figure out how to turn it on and if it is a new enough version, then you can also have what looks like an easy way to load Linux apps, but no luck for me.

 

[BigDaddyLee]

There seems to be a little confusion here about Chrome OS. Chrome flex is not the same as Chrome OS and I would agree with you about being disappointed about the things you were talking about. If you use an actual Chromebook or Chromebox, I would venture to say your experience would be different. Many of the things you were talking about may not have been an issue. I know that I can load a gimp in Chrome with no problem, but you might want to give an actual Chrome OS of a run, not Chrome flex, two different puppies, hope that helps

 

[GuyRemembered]

The article draws conclusions about ChromeOS, but is describing an experience with ChromeOS Flex which runs off and writes to a thumbdrive.

 

[NoxUwU]

Seems to me like you didn't read the description of what ChromeOS is about and set yourself up for a bad experience.
Idk if it's clear enough that on CHROMEos, you should use Chrome. Everything else is just an additional extra pretty much only to be used if it is absolutely required.
Not to mention the fact that you're using ChromeOS Flex, which, while nominally the same, is pretty much its own thing.

 

[Moose and Squirrel]

Author might:

- Note what sort of user they are, what they expect their computing environment to look like, what they use now that they're satisfied with, etc.

Because a linux developer using lots of content creation and app development tools isn't a customer for chrome os, and it never was. It's an end user run time that'll run android apps well, and some linux dev stuff.

While a fair slice of folks say that chrome os and flex are completely different, the answer is not really. While theres a separate fork for chromebooks and flex, google has brought so much of the cloudready compatibility into the root branch. All cloudready really needed was a kernel update to something made in this century. Cloudready folks were afraid to update it, as every time they tried they got more support problems than they could manage.

Similarly, let's discard the idea that it only runs on usb drives, it can in fact run fine on an internal drive.

And the one that says there's some sort of different 'experience' with a branded chromebook/box vs flex. I have boatloads of both. Other than customized drivers and perhaps a few vendor supplied bells and whistles, the experience is the same.

Last, author doesn't understand the edu market, and the reason why we use a managed chromebook environment isn't "because it's simple".

We use it because its free (outside the management tools subscription), it keeps the students OUT of the OS (for the most part, my kid still got into the command prompt), and the management tools allow a teacher to see what every student is doing, their progress, scores and so forth in real time.

Attempting to do a lot of that on another OS? Big bucks and big development.

The elegance and comprehensive approach to the management tools and ability to combine web based and android tools is really nice.

You can also get the android stuff working with flex. It takes a bit of time, but that's gotten easier and quicker. Just google it.

Speaking for myself, my setup at home resembles a small business arrangement more than a residence, with school work, work from home all the way to gaming setups. Outside of gaming, I've run an all chrome OS environment full time across every device with no problems and no ongoing "home tech support" like backups, OS reinstalls, etc.

And that was 4 years ago. Nothing new.

 

[CajunMoses]

There seems to be a little confusion here about Chrome OS. Chrome flex is not the same as Chrome OS and I would agree with you about being disappointed about the things you were talking about. If you use an actual Chromebook or Chromebox, I would venture to say your experience would be different. Many of the things you were talking about may not have been an issue. I know that I can load a gimp in Chrome with no problem, but you might want to give an actual Chrome OS of a run, not Chrome flex, two different puppies, hope that helps

Yep, although it's clearly unintentional, nearly the entire review is moot and invalid. Apples and oranges both come from fruit trees, but they're not interchangeable.

 

[timnolte]

I would highly suggest the author at the very least change the title of this article, but really should revise it to make it clear that they weren't using ChromeOS and an actual Chrome device, what their requirements were and how they didn't actually properly research if ChromeOS Flex targeted their requirements.