Chrome is a key part of Chrome OS, and everyone knowing how to use it should have no real trouble using a Chromebook.ĬhromeOS has an equivalent to the Windows task bar where you can pin all the web apps you have, as well as Android and Linux apps (more on that later). Google Chrome had also already synced all my bookmarks and extensions, and the web browser works flawlessy on this Chromebook.
I had to install a software update after unboxing mine, which didn’t take longer than 30 min, but after that I just logged in with my Gmail account and the machine was up an running. The great thing with Chromebooks is that they’re very easy to setup. This entire article has also been written on Chrome OS, and I’m pretty sure I could do most of my work-related tasks on a Chromebook without any issues. There are probably some things that I have yet to discover on Chrome OS, but I’m already convinced that Chromebooks can already satisfy the needs of most casual PC users.
What will follow will be a short review of Chrome OS from a Windows 10/macOS fan, and I should add that I didn’t really become a Chrome OS power user in the two weeks since I purchased this Chromebook. There are also a couple things that I didn’t like, but I hope that Microsoft’s Windows Lite will take the best from Chrome OS and mix it up with some unique Windows things, providing users the best of both worlds.
It’s been fun discovering how Chrome OS works on this machine, and as a regular Windows 10 and macOS user there’s actually a lot to like about Chromebooks in general. The build quality is pretty good, and this machine also has two USB 3.1 Type C ports and 2 standard USB 2.0 ports, a pretty solid trackpad and an excellent chiclet keyboard. For just €200, the model I bought (which doesn’t seem to be available in the US) comes with a FullHD IPS screen, a dual-core AMD CPU, 4 gigs of DDR4 RAM, and 64GB of eMMC storage (expandable with a microSD card). I had never used a Chromebook until I saw a great deal on a 14” Chromebook from HP.
Chromebooks are no longer the underpowered cheap PCs that become useless without an Internet connection, they’re actually a pretty good alternative to cheap Windows laptops for people who don’t need the full power of Windows. Other tools let you drag them across the Z-axis to add depth to your 3D image.It’s not clear yet if Windows Lite will be compatible with all Windows 10 UWP apps and legacy Win32 apps, but Google recently brought support for Android and Linux apps on ChromeOS.
You can start building a model from scratch or grab a prebuilt design to work on. The new features are straightforward, with a menu on the left and an object panel on the right side of your screen. It doesn’t require a touch-screen but is compatible with stylus and Surface Pro devices if you want to use them. One of the latest upgrades introduced 3D design to the scope of Paint’s functionalities. You can save your work in BMP, PNG, JPEG, or GIF format. Some tips pop up as you’re clicking around the toolbar, but most features are intuitive enough that you don't even need them. The user interface resembles other Microsoft programs, with the features aligned on the top and on the left side. You’ll also find resizing, rotating, skewing, and cropping tools. Microsoft Paint’s primary feature is a drawing tool for painting on a blank canvas or existing image. While far from the advanced level of third-party graphic software such as Adobe Illustrator and Krita, it’s still capable of producing detailed creations.Īlthough Microsoft announced it would discontinue the program in 2019 and it’s now in the stage where it doesn’t receive active updates anymore. The program went through numerous upgrades but kept the simplicity that made it so liked in the first place. The original MS Paint came out in 1985, and it’s been a part of the Windows package ever since.