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Chrome OS Receives Extreme Makeover With Material Design and Google Now
MojoKid writes Late last week, Google quietly began inviting people to opt into the beta channel for ChromeOS to help the company "shape the future" of the OS. Some betas can be riskier than others, but Google says that opting into this one is just a "little risk", one that will pay off handsomely for those who crave new features. New in this version is Chrome Launcher 2.0, which gives you quick access to a number of common features, including the apps you use most often (examples are Hangouts, Calculator, and Files). Some apps have also received a fresh coat of paint, such as the file manager. Google notes that this is just the start, so there will be more updates rolling out to the beta OS as time goes on. Other key features available in this beta include the ability to extract pass protected Zip archives, as well as a perk for travelers. ChromeOS will now automatically detect your new timezone, and then update the time and date accordingly.
Honestly, the most noticeable change was that the font changed on the tabs and URL bar.
I know- it's so terrible to have a sub-$200 laptop that boots in seconds and that has everything stored in the cloud so if my kids break it I can replace it trivially.
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
No? Watching http://trailers.divx.com/divx_... just fine on my Acer C720; CPU hasn't bumped over over 40%.
you're only giving google a head start on tracking your kids' every move online. not the greatest move a parent can make.
In actual reality, I went to amazon.com, typed "Chromebook", selected OS: "Chrome OS", then sorted by price resulting in 14 models below the $200 mark
The remaining 5% makes me money. So yes, it is that important to me.
Then don't buy a Chromebook. It is not a professional workstation. I don't have one either. But my kids do. Chromebooks are also popular with schools. They are cheap, and are difficult for students to screw up, because ... well because there is nothing on them. But if all you need is a broswer and Google docs, they are fine. You can buy five of them for the price of a Macbook.
>>Could you imagine a prospective employee showing up to an interview with a P.O.S chromebook instead of a macbook?
Depends on the job person is applying to. If in the course of work his only tool is browser - then chromebook is a sign that this person knows his stuff and doesn't feel uncontrollable compultion to buy bling-bling stuff just because it's trendy and cool.
The supposed source Ivan Gotyaovich does not appear to be exist, and the "Gotya" is a bit of a hint.
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Contextless, textless, unlabelled icons I take it then?
No separation of data using small 1 pixel width dividing lines, shading, or anything really, just one big flat white (or whatever colour they choose) mess?
Difficulty in easily identifying data because it's not highlighted or accentuated in any particular way?
Yep, love that material design. It's clever stuff.
There are plenty of good options for a small laptop there. Personally I have a desktop computer that can do all the great things I want it to. For a laptop I wanted something small and light that I wouldn't have to worry about. A 13in Chromebook worked perfectly for that. I never use it for gaming or image development, usually just web browsing and email. Occasionally I'll do some development by SSHing into a Linux box, and if I really want to do something more intensive, I can remote desktop to my machine at home. It takes 6 seconds to boot, updates also take 6 seconds (and my windows are opened after), and it doesn't get loaded down with crapware. Worst case I can do a factory reset.
Now I realize some people want a mobile primary computer and this isn't the machine for them. Judging by the tablet market, people are quite happy to get machines that do one thing, so maybe it would be better if you saw this as a cheap tablet with a keyboard and USB ports.
Why is someone taking a laptop into an interview?