The Chromebook Test: Living In Google Chrome For A Month (Part 10)

Since starting this experiment I've switched to the Google Chrome Canary channel, the builds in the Canary channel are seriously cutting edge and can be considered an Alpha build, if you want something more stable than thee Canary channel then a full list of all the channels from Canary up to Stable can be found here.

[caption id="attachment_1571" align="aligncenter" width="585"] Chrome Canary Build 34.0.1769.2 canary[/caption]

How to make Windows 7 look more like Chrome OS using Google Chrome Canary

To make Windows 7 look more like Chrome OS while using a Canary build of Chrome you need to edit the hidden Chrome flags, editing the Chrome flags is as simple as enabling or disabling different options. Chrome flags enable experimental features so can break Chrome, especially when you combine them with using a Canary Build of Chrome.

[caption id="attachment_1572" align="aligncenter" width="585"] Chrome Flags Screen[/caption]

The flag that needs enabling is:

• chrome://flags


• Enable new profile management system


• Relaunch Chrome

Once set you'll have a drop down menu just to the left of the Window buttons o  the right hand side of the screen. Login to your Google account and your name appears in on the menu and you get a few other options when you open the menu

[caption id="attachment_1573" align="aligncenter" width="585"] Chrome OS Style User Menu[/caption]

When you select lock it locks your open Chrome session and brings up a Chrome OS style login screen.

[caption id="attachment_1574" align="aligncenter" width="585"] Chrome OS style Login screen[/caption]

This is a cool feature to have especially in a Coffee shop as you can lock your browser while you go for a refill, but other than that it's purely a cosmetic feature for anyone trying to get a Chrome OS style going on as the underlying Windows 7 Desktop is still unlocked.

Making Windows 8/8.1 look like Chrome OS

If you use Windows 8/8.1 you can easily have the Chrome OS feel just by using the Google Chrome Beta Channel version of Chrome as in Modern UI mode Chrome mimics the Chrome OS Desktop.

[caption id="attachment_1575" align="aligncenter" width="585"] Chrome OS Mode of Chrome Beta in Windows 8 Modern UI Mode[/caption]

Roland

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The Chromebook Test: Living In Google Chrome For A Month (Part 9)

Today's post will be a short little update as I've not had much time to write a proper one today.

I've not spent much time in Chrome today as I've mostly been Gaming as well as out of the house visiting family, so not had a great deal of time to computing, but my time within Chrome is going well as I've not ventured into any Windows applications to get things done other than Gaming.

One good thing about using Chrome for everything is that I don't need to install the Printer Driver for my Kodak esp 1.2 AIO WiFi Printer as it's got Google Cloud Print built-in meaning that I can just Print from within Chrome, this is a good thing as I never got round to installing the Printer Driver when I reverted back to using Windows 7 Ultimate from Ubuntu 13.10.

Roland

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2013 in review

Here's my Blog's 2013 Review that I promised.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.



Here's an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,400 times in 2013. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Roland

The Chromebook Test: Living In Google Chrome For A Month (Part 8)

With only 3 weeks left in this experiment I've come to realise that I could definitely see out the month of this experiment, the one big problem I keep getting that is annoying the hell out of me is that every time I mouse over the top of a Browser window I get the Windows Taskbar popping up. This seems to happen  if I unintentionally get a bit close to the top edge of a Browser window.

[caption id="attachment_1553" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mousing over a little too close to the top edge of a Browser window[/caption]

Sometimes it happens even if I mouse over the correct part of the Browser window, but more often than not I have to mouse over the very bottom edge of a Browser window then it seems to work as intended

[caption id="attachment_1554" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mousing over the correct spot or close to the bottom edge of a Browser window seems to stop the Windows Taskbar popping up[/caption]

other than these little niggles that is mainly down to the fact I'm hiding the Windows Taskbar everything works fine.

Roland

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The Chromebook Test: Living In Google Chrome For A Month (Part 7)

After waking up to finding my Chrome Home page hijacked by a Chrome extension that I didn't even install & to a piece of Windows software that somehow managed to install itself this morning, I can't wait for the day that I can ditch Windows for Chrome OS.

What I'd like to see

I'd like to see Google make a fully functional Chrome OS or even Chromium OS available to download, as I'd then be able to ditch Windows for Chrome OS or Chromium OS for the rest of this experiment.

Windows

Windows has dropped to the level of malware in my eyes if software is able to install itself without any user knowledge & even allow Google Chrome Extensions to install themselves without any user knowledge, but yet Microsoft have the nerve to have their Scroogled campaign in the US, where in an Ad that is also an embedded video on the scroogled.com website they say that a Chromebook isn't a real Laptop because it doesn't run Windows and you can't install Office on it & that Google sell your information is being hypocritical since Windows seems to allow software to be silently installed without a users knowledge, also Windows is a pile of virus ridden, malware infested bloat-ware.

Linux v Chrome OS v Windows

If I could find a Linux Distribution as well designed as Chrome OS I'd switch from Windows instantly, but unfortunately I've not come across anything with the same UI style. I'd even switch to Chrome OS if I could find a Chromium OS version that can be easily installed I'd even switch to Chromium OS on my Laptop, but again I've not come across a version that can be easily installed. So it looks like I'm stuck with Windows until I can afford to switch to a Chromebook.

Conclusion

With my first week of living entirely in Chrome coming to an end tomorrow, I'm really liking the idea of Chrome OS & Chromebooks especially since the randomly installed software & a randomly installed & enabled Chrome Extension that's now broken the Chrome Extension that I installed from the Chrome store, even though I've deleted the random Chrome Extension.

I'm now seriously looking forward to the day that I can ditch Windows for Chrome OS on a Chromebook, unless I can find a way to install Chromium OS on my Laptop.

Roland

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The Chromebook Test: Living In Google Chrome For A Month (Part 6)

After spending nearly a full week living entirely in Chrome I would say that completing this experiment will be a breeze, as I've spent less and less using Windows Applications. The only time I've ventured into the world of Windows Applications today was to play a bit of the excellent & addictive Kerbal Space Program.

Chrome only tasks

Everything that I normally do in Chrome such as web browsing, checking me GMail, watching YouTube videos & writing Blog Posts I still do in Chrome, but all but web browsing I've got set to act like normal Applications in the Chrome App Launcher, but for web browsing I've got Chrome set  to the normal tabbed browser as it's easier to switch between multiple webpages.

Chrome only tasks that I usually use Windows Applications for

I've even converted my use of Microsoft Office from using the Windows Applications to using the Office web Applications via the Office website, I think I'll still use the Windows Outlook Client for heavy use of my hotmail.co.uk & outlook.com email addresses as it offers multi account support that's not available via the outlook.com website (but when they day comes that I get a Chromebook I'll adjust to using outlook.com more. I've even converted my use of the Celtx Script & Book writing Application to the web Application, as in the past I've been stuck in a rut of using the Windows Application.

Conclusion

In nearly a week of living in just Chrome I'm amazed at how much can be achieved just by using web Applications & how much my workflow has migrated away from using Windows Applications to using web Applications. The only time I've got to use Windows Applications is if there is no web Applications to do the job (Updating my Windows Notebook).

I'm seriously looking forward to the day that I can free myself from having to take my heavy Notebook with me when I go out. I know I could just switch to Linux on my Notebook to streamline my workflow, but in the end I'm still having to lug a heavy Notebook around with me, and I've even come across a Chrome Application that allows you  to Remote Desktop into a Windows Machine which is really handy as it will still allow me to use the Outlook Desktop Client if need be when I do eventually get a Chromebook.

I've really fallen in love with the idea of living in Chrome in the 4 days that I've done this, and I'm looking forward to the 26th of January when the month is up and I can evaluate the experiment of living in Chrome for a month & will probably then extend the experiment a month at a time until I can afford a Chromebook.

Roland

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The Chromebook Test: Living In Google Chrome For A Month (Part 5)

After sorting out the weird behaviour that Windows was suffering I decided to continue my 1 Month of living in Chrome, and I'm finding myself using Windows less and less on a  daily basis apart from using it for the base of this experiment.

How I've got my Windows 7 Notebook set-up to look like Chrome OS probably isn't the smoothest of ways to go about it, but I find that it gives me minimal distraction from seeing the Windows Taskbar while still having access to the underlying Windows 7 OS (really essential for keeping Windows up to date & Hibernating my Notebook when not using it) as well as allowing me to do things that I can only do from Windows applications (Not much you can't do in the Chrome Web Apps apart from doing a system backup of my iPhone using iTunes and Windows gaming.

Since I prefer the Chrome Web Browser over the others out there then living entirely within Chrome is easy, but it's a bit of a learning curve when doing it on a Windows Notebook as the temptation to use the Windows Start Menu to use Programs is there, but I'm slowly getting used to using the Chrome App Launcher to Launch Chrome Apps.

One major benefit of using the Chrome App Launcher is that you can set Chrome Web Apps up to not open in Chrome but to open as if they're an actual Application, so you don't get the Tabs on the top of the Screen, no Omnibar & no Bookmarks bar e.t.c. or you can have them set to open in Chrome, which is also what you can set up in Chrome OS, meaning that if you've experimented with Living in Chrome & using the Chrome App Launcher within Windows or Mac OSX then the settings should translate over to Chrome OS. Another plus for Chromebooks is that Google gives away 100GB of Google Drive Storage for 2 years that has a retail value of $4.99 a month ($119.76 for 24 Months), where as with Microsoft you only get an extra 20GB of SkyDrive Storage with an active Office 2013 365 subscription, so if you're looking for a second Laptop, a cheap lightweight Laptop that you can carry around with you, a first computer for a family member or even your first laptop then for the price of a Chromebook you can't go wrong (especially when the nearest Laptop comparable in weight and size is the MacBook Air that is about 100x the price of the cheapest Chromebook).

Living entirely in the cloud has its advantages as if you lose your Chromebook all you have to do is change your Google password and all your personal data is safe.

Roland

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