All I'll say is this - I've purchased and have been playing around with the Samsung Chromebook for a few weeks. For anyone who says you can't do "real" work on it, that's like saying the iPad isn't capable of "real" work. WIll it run 100% of every piece of legacy Windows software? No. Will it run EVERYTHING you need or use on a daily basis? Probably not. If you have a need for a traditional PC or Mac, those devices will suit you better than a Chromebook can. However, don't dismiss those who can and do work in a web-only mode.
Most of what I use a laptop for involves browsing, documents, social media, video watching, music listening, reading news and play a few games. The Chromebook is absolutely capable of all those things. Need to tweak an image for some reason? It's simple to do with a few web applications. I can download any files to my Google Drive through this machine and have it waiting for me on my PC by the time I get home. For those occasional times where I *need* to use a Windows or Mac app, the free Chrome Remote Desktop lets me remote into my other machines with surprisingly good performance across a LAN and even over the Internet. Plus, I don't have to worry about viruses or accidentally downloading something that will mess it up. It's very Apple-like in the sense that it "just works."
The only thing I don't love about this machine is the hardware itself. The keyboard is fantastic to type on, but the screen is horrible compared to IPS displays I've become accustomed to. I love the idea of a high-end Chromebook, and while I think the Pixel is a bit of an extreme, I would absolutely purchase something in the middle if it meant a better screen. Would I give up my desktop PC in favor of the Chromebook? No, of course not. The same is true about an iPad, really. For me, the Chromebook isn't a replacement for my other machines - it's simply another device I use to access my data, like my phone, tablet, and desktop. I've found it has a useful place in my life, and I think people would be surprised how productive you can be doing "real" work on one of these things. If you mostly live and work inside the browser anyway, I'd give one of these things a shot.
Somebody please explain this bullshit will you? We were all told that the Retina display resolution was higher than the human eye can detect. Now we have a new spec war going on about pixels and resolution.If these resolutions are higher than the human eye can perceive then what on earth are we arguing about? Is this the same argument we hear from the audiophiles and videophiles about how THEY can hear and see the difference between 128kbps and 256kbps encoding, or the difference between 1080P and 4K? Is this all marketing bullshit? Were we lied to? Is Apple doomed? What? Please tell me! I'm tired of this crap.
What, you didn't hear? Apple's NBT is replacement organs, starting with the iEye, which will offer twice the resolution-perceiving capability of those lame ol' human eyeballs. Samsung is reportedly developing a clone, but it won't be released until they discover exactly what Apple's looks like. MS will develop ones years later--they'll make you blind, but you'll hear a neat clicking noise every time you blink.
Nobody chooses a computer based on a single metric, like pixel count. That's like choosing a digital camera based solely on megapixel count, ignoring the optics, storage options, body style, controls, and even other qualities of the sensor. The 13" MacBook Pro Retina is still a fine all-purpose UNIX computer with a great display. I'm debating whether to step up to a 15" MacBook Pro Retina, or just get a 15" non-Retina MBP and save the cash.
If the sales staff at PC World know what they are doing, and its a big if, a single metric or possibly two is precisely how most people buy their computers. I have seen many a punter down the stores, with blinkered determination, pushing forward with their single minded belief that pixels or Gigs are the make or brake metrics.
The ChromeBook is a great concept. All it needs is applications. Apple is moving to cloud storage for iTunes and eventually other things. Google will make cloud applications better over time. The benefit of cloud storage for applications is that they all can be updated without the users even having to bother with it. People will have the latest versions all of the time. Viruses shouldn't be a problem with cloud based software.
ChromeBooks will probably move to the Nexus 7 model whereby the devices are cheaper because the prices of applications and other services will become the profit center. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple eventually incorporates that model into it's marketing system. If ChromeBooks do get to the point of being very popular Apple will have to compete in the hardware department price arena. The software might become Apple's profit center.
"Viruses shouldn't be a problem ...." What?!!!! What planet are you from? Where do viruses come from? The web, from connectivity. The only way to keep virus free is disconnect from the world.
I'm running cloud-based software right now as I'm typing this sentence into this forum software. There is no cloud-based software that is not the same as the old website software. The term "the cloud" is marketing, not substantive. I've been running cloud software for over 40 years. See, years ago, I was using IBM green screen dumb terminal talking via controllers (via some wires) that were integrating all my keystrokes and then (via some wires) sending the screen as a whole to the IBM 360 across town. Even before that, I was using ASR-33 teletypes to talk via "the cloud" to a computer across campus and even to other campus at a different university. In the 80's we were using cloud-based software, the bulletin-board systems, to talk to colleagues.
Ever hear of enterprise database systems? You know, those big databases by IBM, Oracle, and the like where the databases were located in remote offices. We ran our companies and enterprises via storage "in the cloud". For me that was around 1975 and before.
"The cloud" is old school, way before computers were small enough and cheap enough for a person to own one. "The cloud" is ancient, "the cloud" was how everything worked when computers were first built.
"Viruses shouldn't be a problem ...." What?!!!! What planet are you from? Where do viruses come from? The web, from connectivity. The only way to keep virus free is disconnect from the world.
He was absolutely correct. Viruses should not be a problem. If you consider Macs to generally be impervious to viruses then the Chromebook certainly is, and even more so. http://chromespot.com/2013/01/29/chromebooks-virus-free/
It's a lousy product. There's no way you can create high-end applications for it since you can't actually write native code for it. All it does is run Web Apps inside a browser based OS. It's only good for basic tasks like e-mail, browsing, social interaction or creating basic documents. You can't do anything requiring graphical power (photo or video editing, illustration or even games). It would be useless for web developers since you don't have a way to check your website on multiple browsers for compatibility. You can't code or develop software on it since you're never going to see a Web App compiler (well, they could off-load the compiling to a third party but what programmer is going to trust their code to someone else to compile?).
And when you try and rape people $1,300 for a high-end version it's downright stupid. High-end hardware that lacks the software to do any high-end work.
Bottom line: great for simple tasks, useless for real work.
You actually can create native-code apps for Google Chrome. Install Chrome and then play the game "From Dust" in your browser to check it out...
That being said, the Chromebook would still be much more useful if you just installed a real Linux OS on it or something...
He was absolutely correct. Viruses should not be a problem. If you consider Macs to generally be impervious to viruses then the Chromebook certainly is, and even more so.
Apple Notebooks are still the highest resolution "notebooks" on the market. The "Chromebook" is just a web browser with a monitor attached. It's like saying a Tonka Toy is a serious competitor for a construction site.
3) What Linux distro has a GUI that is designed for the Chromebook Pixel display at this time? I'd guessing none at this point. This is an area where Linux is likely very slow to move.
KDE can scale quite well, and I've heard of a few people running SUSE w/ KDE on Retina Macbooks.
Ubuntu is going to switch their entire DE from being Compiz and GTK based to being based on Qt 5, and sharing code with their mobile OS, so I would definitely think they're going to take scalability into account. It's still a few releases away though.
"Chrome OS is mostly immune to viruses (at least so far). Does this mean it is completely safe, though? Not exactly."
Lol. You always spin, don't you?
Is a Mac any more secure? Nope.
So perhaps explain what part of this you had an issue with:
"He was absolutely correct. Viruses should not be a problem. If you consider Macs to generally be impervious to viruses then the Chromebook certainly is, and even more so."
"Chrome OS is mostly immune to viruses (at least so far). Does this mean it is completely safe, though? Not exactly."
Lol. You always spin, don't you?
The only danger they talk about is fake websites stealing info from dumb users, not any virus actually running code on your computer. The only way to avoid phishing is by not being stupid, there's no software to help with that..
Apple Notebooks are still the highest resolution "notebooks" on the market. The "Chromebook" is just a web browser with a monitor attached. It's like saying a Tonka Toy is a serious competitor for a construction site.
Install SUSE or Ubuntu and you have a serious machine...
But yes, as of right now, the Chromebook pixel isn't a mainstream competitor. Just a toy for Google fans, and a cool laptop for developers...
If they upped the hard drive to 128-256 GB I'd buy one and install a real distro on it (right now have a Thinkpad with Ubuntu)...
He was absolutely correct. Viruses should not be a problem. If you consider Macs to generally be impervious to viruses then the Chromebook certainly is, and even more so.
So perhaps explain what part of this you had an issue with:
The part that I bolded. How exactly was he absolutely correct? When there's "mostly", "at least", "so far", "not exactly" all over the piece you linked. And oh, he didn't talk anything about a Mac.
Install SUSE or Ubuntu and you have a serious machine...
But yes, as of right now, the Chromebook pixel isn't a mainstream competitor. Just a toy for Google fans, and a cool laptop for developers...
If they upped the hard drive to 128-256 GB I'd buy one and install a real distro on it (right now have a Thinkpad with Ubuntu)...
Why? For only $200 more, you can get an MBP Retina with the best hardware quality in the business, longer battery life, and much faster processor. If you want to install Ubuntu, you can do that.
The only danger they talk about is fake websites stealing info from dumb users, not any virus actually running code on your computer. The only way to avoid phishing is by not being stupid, there's no software to help with that..
The piece Gaterguy linked to make it very clear he's talking about viruses. Looking at the quote you quoted from me.
The part that I bolded. How exactly was he absolutely correct? When there's "mostly", "at least", "so far", "not exactly" all over the piece you linked. And oh, he didn't talk anything about a Mac.
He said "Viruses should not be a problem". He is absolutely 100% correct. They should not be.
From the link you're cherry-picking specific words from:
"Due to its web-based nature, Chrome OS is mostly immune to viruses (at least so far). Does this mean it is completely safe, though? Not exactly. There are still some precautions to be taken, though not as many as with other computers (including Macs). The only risk Chrome OS users have to keep in mind is phishing.
Comments
All I'll say is this - I've purchased and have been playing around with the Samsung Chromebook for a few weeks. For anyone who says you can't do "real" work on it, that's like saying the iPad isn't capable of "real" work. WIll it run 100% of every piece of legacy Windows software? No. Will it run EVERYTHING you need or use on a daily basis? Probably not. If you have a need for a traditional PC or Mac, those devices will suit you better than a Chromebook can. However, don't dismiss those who can and do work in a web-only mode.
Most of what I use a laptop for involves browsing, documents, social media, video watching, music listening, reading news and play a few games. The Chromebook is absolutely capable of all those things. Need to tweak an image for some reason? It's simple to do with a few web applications. I can download any files to my Google Drive through this machine and have it waiting for me on my PC by the time I get home. For those occasional times where I *need* to use a Windows or Mac app, the free Chrome Remote Desktop lets me remote into my other machines with surprisingly good performance across a LAN and even over the Internet. Plus, I don't have to worry about viruses or accidentally downloading something that will mess it up. It's very Apple-like in the sense that it "just works."
The only thing I don't love about this machine is the hardware itself. The keyboard is fantastic to type on, but the screen is horrible compared to IPS displays I've become accustomed to. I love the idea of a high-end Chromebook, and while I think the Pixel is a bit of an extreme, I would absolutely purchase something in the middle if it meant a better screen. Would I give up my desktop PC in favor of the Chromebook? No, of course not. The same is true about an iPad, really. For me, the Chromebook isn't a replacement for my other machines - it's simply another device I use to access my data, like my phone, tablet, and desktop. I've found it has a useful place in my life, and I think people would be surprised how productive you can be doing "real" work on one of these things. If you mostly live and work inside the browser anyway, I'd give one of these things a shot.
You should put that Pixel in the bin we got from GTR
...and call it dogfooding
What, you didn't hear? Apple's NBT is replacement organs, starting with the iEye, which will offer twice the resolution-perceiving capability of those lame ol' human eyeballs. Samsung is reportedly developing a clone, but it won't be released until they discover exactly what Apple's looks like. MS will develop ones years later--they'll make you blind, but you'll hear a neat clicking noise every time you blink.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton
Nobody chooses a computer based on a single metric, like pixel count. That's like choosing a digital camera based solely on megapixel count, ignoring the optics, storage options, body style, controls, and even other qualities of the sensor. The 13" MacBook Pro Retina is still a fine all-purpose UNIX computer with a great display. I'm debating whether to step up to a 15" MacBook Pro Retina, or just get a 15" non-Retina MBP and save the cash.
If the sales staff at PC World know what they are doing, and its a big if, a single metric or possibly two is precisely how most people buy their computers. I have seen many a punter down the stores, with blinkered determination, pushing forward with their single minded belief that pixels or Gigs are the make or brake metrics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smallwheels
The ChromeBook is a great concept. All it needs is applications. Apple is moving to cloud storage for iTunes and eventually other things. Google will make cloud applications better over time. The benefit of cloud storage for applications is that they all can be updated without the users even having to bother with it. People will have the latest versions all of the time. Viruses shouldn't be a problem with cloud based software.
ChromeBooks will probably move to the Nexus 7 model whereby the devices are cheaper because the prices of applications and other services will become the profit center. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple eventually incorporates that model into it's marketing system. If ChromeBooks do get to the point of being very popular Apple will have to compete in the hardware department price arena. The software might become Apple's profit center.
"Viruses shouldn't be a problem ...." What?!!!! What planet are you from? Where do viruses come from? The web, from connectivity. The only way to keep virus free is disconnect from the world.
I'm running cloud-based software right now as I'm typing this sentence into this forum software. There is no cloud-based software that is not the same as the old website software. The term "the cloud" is marketing, not substantive. I've been running cloud software for over 40 years. See, years ago, I was using IBM green screen dumb terminal talking via controllers (via some wires) that were integrating all my keystrokes and then (via some wires) sending the screen as a whole to the IBM 360 across town. Even before that, I was using ASR-33 teletypes to talk via "the cloud" to a computer across campus and even to other campus at a different university. In the 80's we were using cloud-based software, the bulletin-board systems, to talk to colleagues.
Ever hear of enterprise database systems? You know, those big databases by IBM, Oracle, and the like where the databases were located in remote offices. We ran our companies and enterprises via storage "in the cloud". For me that was around 1975 and before.
"The cloud" is old school, way before computers were small enough and cheap enough for a person to own one. "The cloud" is ancient, "the cloud" was how everything worked when computers were first built.
He was absolutely correct. Viruses should not be a problem. If you consider Macs to generally be impervious to viruses then the Chromebook certainly is, and even more so.
http://chromespot.com/2013/01/29/chromebooks-virus-free/
deleted
Quote:
Originally Posted by EricTheHalfBee
It's a lousy product. There's no way you can create high-end applications for it since you can't actually write native code for it. All it does is run Web Apps inside a browser based OS. It's only good for basic tasks like e-mail, browsing, social interaction or creating basic documents. You can't do anything requiring graphical power (photo or video editing, illustration or even games). It would be useless for web developers since you don't have a way to check your website on multiple browsers for compatibility. You can't code or develop software on it since you're never going to see a Web App compiler (well, they could off-load the compiling to a third party but what programmer is going to trust their code to someone else to compile?).
And when you try and rape people $1,300 for a high-end version it's downright stupid. High-end hardware that lacks the software to do any high-end work.
Bottom line: great for simple tasks, useless for real work.
You actually can create native-code apps for Google Chrome. Install Chrome and then play the game "From Dust" in your browser to check it out...
That being said, the Chromebook would still be much more useful if you just installed a real Linux OS on it or something...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatorguy
He was absolutely correct. Viruses should not be a problem. If you consider Macs to generally be impervious to viruses then the Chromebook certainly is, and even more so.
http://chromespot.com/2013/01/29/chromebooks-virus-free/
"Chrome OS is mostly immune to viruses (at least so far). Does this mean it is completely safe, though? Not exactly."
Lol. You always spin, don't you?
Apple Notebooks are still the highest resolution "notebooks" on the market. The "Chromebook" is just a web browser with a monitor attached. It's like saying a Tonka Toy is a serious competitor for a construction site.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
3) What Linux distro has a GUI that is designed for the Chromebook Pixel display at this time? I'd guessing none at this point. This is an area where Linux is likely very slow to move.
KDE can scale quite well, and I've heard of a few people running SUSE w/ KDE on Retina Macbooks.
Ubuntu is going to switch their entire DE from being Compiz and GTK based to being based on Qt 5, and sharing code with their mobile OS, so I would definitely think they're going to take scalability into account. It's still a few releases away though.
Is a Mac any more secure? Nope.
So perhaps explain what part of this you had an issue with:
"He was absolutely correct. Viruses should not be a problem. If you consider Macs to generally be impervious to viruses then the Chromebook certainly is, and even more so."
Quote:
Originally Posted by matrix07
"Chrome OS is mostly immune to viruses (at least so far). Does this mean it is completely safe, though? Not exactly."
Lol. You always spin, don't you?
The only danger they talk about is fake websites stealing info from dumb users, not any virus actually running code on your computer. The only way to avoid phishing is by not being stupid, there's no software to help with that..
Quote:
Originally Posted by icoco3
Apple Notebooks are still the highest resolution "notebooks" on the market. The "Chromebook" is just a web browser with a monitor attached. It's like saying a Tonka Toy is a serious competitor for a construction site.
Install SUSE or Ubuntu and you have a serious machine...
But yes, as of right now, the Chromebook pixel isn't a mainstream competitor. Just a toy for Google fans, and a cool laptop for developers...
If they upped the hard drive to 128-256 GB I'd buy one and install a real distro on it (right now have a Thinkpad with Ubuntu)...
There's a giant keylogger on there though.
Offline video editing? Garageband? Also, why would it be ok for a $1299 laptop to be less functional than a $329 tablet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatorguy
So perhaps explain what part of this you had an issue with:
The part that I bolded. How exactly was he absolutely correct? When there's "mostly", "at least", "so far", "not exactly" all over the piece you linked. And oh, he didn't talk anything about a Mac.
Why? For only $200 more, you can get an MBP Retina with the best hardware quality in the business, longer battery life, and much faster processor. If you want to install Ubuntu, you can do that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikeb85
The only danger they talk about is fake websites stealing info from dumb users, not any virus actually running code on your computer. The only way to avoid phishing is by not being stupid, there's no software to help with that..
The piece Gaterguy linked to make it very clear he's talking about viruses. Looking at the quote you quoted from me.
He said "Viruses should not be a problem". He is absolutely 100% correct. They should not be.
From the link you're cherry-picking specific words from:
"Due to its web-based nature, Chrome OS is mostly immune to viruses (at least so far). Does this mean it is completely safe, though? Not exactly. There are still some precautions to be taken, though not as many as with other computers (including Macs). The only risk Chrome OS users have to keep in mind is phishing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatorguy
He said "Viruses should not be a problem". That is 100% correct. They should not be...
.. so far. The guy you linked to didn't have "100%" confidence like you. Lol. Man, the spin is so funny.
Or they "mostly" should not be.