Hello Google Chrome!!! Goodbye MS

[photoguy]

+1
But, then every time she wants to make a change, she will be at your door asking for help.

Yeah that's why I didn't want to restrict her privileges. But I didn't expect her computer to get compromised so fast. All she was trying to do was download iTunes and somehow went to a third party site instead of apple.

 

[Cobra9777]

I've been looking at Chromebooks for a while but haven't got one yet. At least once a week or so, Woot offers an HP Chromebook for $199 that includes free 4G (T-Mobile HSPA+) for life. It's capped at 200MB per month, which isn't much, but presumably you'd only use it when not in a WiFi area, which for me at least is very seldom. And it's free. For life. I'd like to use it for couch browsing and travel. Don't think it would suit my needs for much more than that. But it should run faster and hold a charge longer than my clunky old laptop.

The Chrome browser is rock solid, with a great selection of add-ons and extensions. IE has been a train wreck for more than a decade and Firefox had become a memory hog. Chrome is fast, secure, and customizable. Google services are getting better and better at actually making things easier to do and anticipating what information I need and when.

I build high-performance desktop PCs as a hobby. I use the latest build for 90% of my computing needs, which includes audio recording and digital video editing, along with the usual browsing, email, and spreadsheets. I only use a laptop for it's intended purpose, which is casual computing at locations other than my desk... and usually for something I can't do on my smartphone (which is becoming less and less over time). The form factor I like the best for this are powerful tablets with a detachable keyboard dock. But I haven't purchased one of those yet either.

Traditional laptops IMHO are an obsolete design. They attempted to replicate the power and flexibility of a desktop, in a physical package that could not handle the demand. This became worse as people wanted smaller and thinner designs. They run hot, slow, and the screen is too small for my 53 year-old eyes. I'll take my three 22" monitors and a high-performance desktop PC any day.

As for data storage, I agree with a prior post that external drives are so cheap, it's difficult to understand the cost rationale for cloud storage. The reason I think people like me will eventually embrace the cloud is because you want your data everywhere you go. Not just at home. And there's no reason to clutter up all your devices with duplicate data. For my mobile needs, the Chromeback/Cloud concept looks pretty appealing. For my non-mobile, resource-intensive needs, I'll keep building desktops PCs.

 

[explanade]

Of course you are trading privacy for the low cost.

Google depends on data mining to serve up advertising. The data it collects is a treasure for its advertising clients.

Google removes apps from the Play Store which try to block other apps from collecting your data:

Why Some Privacy Apps Get Blocked From the Android Play Store - Digits - WSJ

A new case is that the Facebook Messenger app may be accessing your contacts and messages without you giving explicit permission.

 

[frugal_dave]

The problm I have with Google Drive is that you can not password protect the files.

 

[marko]

Of course you are trading privacy for the low cost.

A new case is that the Facebook Messenger app may be accessing your contacts and messages without you giving explicit permission.

I thought privacy went out with the buggy whip.

 

[steelyman]

The problm I have with Google Drive is that you can not password protect the files.

I don't think of it as an all-or-nothing proposition. 99% of my files anyone could look at and I wouldn't care. The others can go to the desktop or yet-to-be-determined solution.

 

[aja8888]

I don't think of it as an all-or-nothing proposition. 99% of my files anyone could look at and I wouldn't care. The others can go to the desktop or yet-to-be-determined solution.

I feel the same about my 1,000's of files and photos in my back up. Not many are that important where I have a big worry about security. Looking at the files today, I see a lot of old pdf receipt copies, w*rk files (??), general correspondence, and a bunch of junk). Matter of fact, I really can just trash 95% of that and no one will ever know or care.

My biggest concerns are tax files and financial statements, both of which are stored on my NAS or on a flash drive. Actually, the financial statements are online at the institutions and I make copies and save them.

 

[In-control]

Update to migration from MS environment to Google Chrome.

I have successfully installed the ChromeBox and Wireless printer

Observations.

Installation process - plug everything into the USB/HDMI etc.. ports on the ChromeBox. Turn it on, it will update itself - takes 5 min. It finds everything on its own w/o interaction - Done!

Wireless printer - follow the instructions on the printer - join the cloud. Done maybe 10 min. Share printer with peoples gmail address.

Added a new ChromeBook, looks like a laptop w/ 13.3" LCD, to the home network last night - 5 min to follow the setup screens and another 5 to update the book. - Done

Added app for Kindle to print in the google print cloud

maintenance going forward - none!

Next steps

Cancel Norton contract.
Enjoy


Overall I am very happy I did a streaming video session with Vanguard yesterday and it was fast and flawless.

 

[marko]

Based on this thread I just got home now with a new Chromebook!! So far so good. I'm actually tab-casting via Chromecast on my TV now.

I've been in the Google cloud for almost two years and wanted to see if I could live without MS or other downloaded applications....looks like it's so!

 

[In-control]

The problm I have with Google Drive is that you can not password protect the files.

You give access to files by their gmail email account. I give access at the folder level. The Google drive may be a temporary holding spot and I may not give rights to it. I am putting the pictures and videos on two external drives. One goes in a firebox and will be updated once in a while, like after a big trip.

You do not need to put any files in the cloud if you do not want to.

 

[In-control]

Office Transformation with ChromeBox

Office transformation. Everything is behind the monitor - Cable modem/External HD/Wireless Router. The small grey box with the white light is the ChromeBox. Notice the right side is empty - that is where the old MS system was.

Also the keyboard and mouse is a wireless team and uses one USB port.

 

[Chuckanut]

Office transformation. Everything is behind the monitor - Cable modem/External HD/Wireless Router. The small grey box with the white light is the ChromeBox. Notice the right side is empty - that is where the old MS system was.

Also the keyboard and mouse is a wireless team and uses one USB port.

Obviously, you are one happy camper!!

 

[aja8888]

Office transformation. Everything is behind the monitor - Cable modem/External HD/Wireless Router. The small grey box with the white light is the ChromeBox. Notice the right side is empty - that is where the old MS system was.

Also the keyboard and mouse is a wireless team and uses one USB port.

Nice! That's the way I'm heading once my custom XP box dies (and it is working on that happening).

 

[mrfeh]

When I need a traditional PC (local storage), I use Linux. Even then, I leverage google apps and Dropbox for many things.

For smaller devices, we use Chromebooks and tablets running Android.

You can't pay me to mess with a Windows operating system.

 

[photoguy]

You can't pay me to mess with a Windows operating system.

Same here. But sometimes I have to rescue relatives.

 

[In-control]

I started with Dos and Banyon email. Then rolled out Windows 3.1/95/2000 etc... and am a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. Having and open architecture was a good and bad thing. Now all we want is value, information creation and consumption from our technology purchase.

Seems pretty reasonable to me - who wants to buy headaches and potential crashes/problems! The OS is so complicated and the products are good but their evolution has slowed. Google and others are catching up and leaping past MS.

I think that I can hear an empire starting to crumble!

 

[target2019]

When I need a traditional PC (local storage), I use Linux. Even then, I leverage google apps and Dropbox for many things.

For smaller devices, we use Chromebooks and tablets running Android.

You can't pay me to mess with a Windows operating system.

I use android tablet, maybe 75% of the time. I'm leaning towards a Chrome book addition next.
I am paid to mess with Windows systems, and set a high rate to do it. It pays for all of the extra toys and then some.

 

[In-control]

I use android tablet, maybe 75% of the time. I'm leaning towards a Chrome book addition next.
I am paid to mess with Windows systems, and set a high rate to do it. It pays for all of the extra toys and then some.

Thing about the Chromebook is that their really light and having the keyboard and touchpad is just easier for any content creation. Also - they are pretty inexpensive.

 

[marko]

Thing about the Chromebook is that their really light and having the keyboard and touchpad is just easier for any content creation. Also - they are pretty inexpensive.

Three days into my new Chromebook, I also like the battery life...7-8 hours! I used to keep my PC plugged in all the time because half way through something I'd run out of juice.

Fast boot-up, auto sync, auto backup, super fast reaction.....

"everything old is new again"...reminds me of the days of the dumb terminal (which it pretty much is) For the few items I'm limited on (Skype) I'll manage! I love this thing!

 

[Chuckanut]

The Chrome book reminds me a bit of the tablet computers in that one doesn't have to worry about things like video and sound drivers, security updates, etc. As long as one trusts Google, one can be a happy user.

 

[In-control]

Update,

Ugh the saga continues - the 1TB drive that I gave Staples for file backup was DOA - now I had to buy another. More $ wasted because we were not vigilant is backing up our photo to a on-line solution. Lesson learned.

As far as the Chrome environment - it just works and works fast.

 

[walkinwood]

Quicken, Photoshop Elements and Lightroom - those three keep me stuck to windows.

I know there are alternatives, but I like the way these work & am not ready to give them up.

As far as I know, there are no good RAW converters for Chromebook yet. But if you know of one, I'm eager to learn about it.

 

[In-control]

Quicken, Photoshop Elements and Lightroom - those three keep me stuck to windows.

I know there are alternatives, but I like the way these work & am not ready to give them up.

As far as I know, there are no good RAW converters for Chromebook yet. But if you know of one, I'm eager to learn about it.

Hi,

I know what your saying, I am a big Turbotax user and get it free on-line but ave been paying the $10 fee to download it. I will be going to on-line version. Their is a quicken on-line and if you go to the google app store below you may find your app.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/apps



Also - I bank with The Bank of Internet out of San Diego and their online banking page is an Intuit site I believe - they give customers free Finance Works, a Intuit product like Quicken. You register you accounts and credit cards and set you budget alerts etc... Works great and we are following our budget more closely now because their is little manual intervention.

 

[frayne]

Guess I'm the luddite in the group, still use a traditional desktop PC with Windows 7 and version 11 IE. I back up my HD every six months (with an external HD) and about once a year wipe and do a re-install of MS-Windows 7. Also run WOT, AVG anti-virus and Malware bytes protection. Still think cloud security is an issue and will be for sometime to come.

 

[explanade]

Update,

Ugh the saga continues - the 1TB drive that I gave Staples for file backup was DOA - now I had to buy another. More $ wasted because we were not vigilant is backing up our photo to a on-line solution. Lesson learned.

As far as the Chrome environment - it just works and works fast.

May want to consider getting a couple of drives and do frequent backups on both.

One strategy is to have backup drives offsite, like sate deposit box, a relatives house or the office. The idea is in case of fire or burglary.

The data you have -- photos, personal emails, financial data -- is irreplaceable whereas the hardware is not.

I don't keep backups offsite but definitely have more than one backup, done once a week.