Is Google Chrome Os Available For Download?

Our Verdict

Chrome Os is simple, speedy and offers good value for money.

For

It's fast
It's cheap
It's simple and secure

Against

It isn't groovy on LANs
Patchy app store selection
Not everything works offline

TechRadar Verdict

Chrome OS is uncomplicated, speedy and offers good value for coin.

Pros

+
It's fast
+
Information technology's cheap
+
It's simple and secure

Cons

-
It isn't keen on LANs
-
Patchy app store pick
-
Not everything works offline

Finish united states of america if you've heard this i before: ultra-inexpensive, ultra-portable laptops running Linux instead of Windows and using flash storage instead of hard disks. The similarities between Google's Chromebooks and the kickoff wave of netbooks are obvious, merely at that place are of import differences too.

Processors and batteries are better, delivering decent performance and all-24-hour interval battery life. Nosotros're now more connected, with ubiquitous Wi-Fi and good mobile broadband available in most urban and suburban areas. Also, cloud calculating apps can be as skilful or even better than traditional desktop software. Can Chrome deliver what netbooks promised, and should you consider going Chrome Bone in your business organization?

Chrome Settings — You lot can adjust basic options from the Settings screen

What is Chrome Os?

Imagine an operating organization that only ran the Chrome spider web browser (which you lot can download here). That's Chrome OS.

There'southward a desktop that you can look at but you can't stick files on, a status bar where you can pivot your favourite apps, see the clock and check the strength of your Wi-Fi connection, and at that place'southward a browser. And that'southward information technology.

The selling point hither is simplicity. By focusing on one thing – spider web apps – and doing information technology to the exclusion of all else, Chrome Bone can avoid the complication and bloat of traditional operating systems. It should run well on cheap hardware, it should be easy to deploy and to manage, and information technology should be gratuitous from the malware and exploits that plague more complex systems. And in well-nigh cases it delivers on those promises – provided, that is, that the software you lot need works as a web app and that you have reliable cyberspace access.

Chrome was originally intended as an online-merely operating arrangement, simply it before long became clear that this was a problem – especially in places such as rural Uk, where mobile broadband isn't ever available and Wi-Fi hotspots are few and far between. Recent versions of the OS have embraced offline access to an extent – for case, Google Docs enables you to piece of work on documents offline and sync once you get back to broadband, Gmail provides most of its features offline and Google Sheets, Slides and Drawings can work offline besides. Nonetheless, third-party apps generally expect a network connection.

Chrome app launcher — Chrome keeps things simple... this is the app launcher

Another issue you might come across is that Chrome assumes any connection is a practiced one – so it'll cheerfully download OS updates in the groundwork fifty-fifty if you're on a very patchy mobile broadband connection, which can slow things down considerably. For example, nosotros're typing this on a poor quality Wi-Fi connection every bit updates download, and there'due south noticeable lag between our key presses and the letters appearing on the screen.

Contributor

Former lion tamer, Girls Aloud backing dancer and habitual liar Carrie Marshall (Twitter, Google+) has been writing near tech since 1998, contributing sage communication and odd opinions to .net, MacFormat, Tap! and Official Windows Magazine also as co-writing stacks of how-to tech books. "My job is to cut through the crap," she says. "And there'southward a lot of crap."