Potability, simplicity and simplicity are terms that have been strongly coined in technology in recent years, and we have begun to see how operating systems and equipment have been substantially simplified in order to give end users a very rewarding experience. free from frustrations.
What is Chrome OS?
One of the best current representatives of simplicity and simplicity is Chrome OS, Google’s operating system based on Linux since 2009. Currently this system is part of an already growing line of Google products called Chromebooks and although in theory this is an operating system specifically designed for this product line, being a Linux development, Chrome OS is mostly open source, which has made it easy for developers around the world to make their own versions and enhancements of Chome OS now known as part of the free Chromium OS system.
The philosophy of Chrome OS is simplicity and connectivity, so If you’ve used Google’s Chrome browser before on any other operating system, you’ve practically already used Chrome OS. In other words, when you start the operating system you have a Chrome browser, from which you launch all the apps, a taskbar where you can anchor your favorite Chrome applications, and on the right side you have the time and a simple settings menu, and that’s pretty much it.
Everything in this operating system is launched from the Chrome browser and its extensions, which means that it is based entirely on web-apps and although it currently offers some apps that work offline, its core is on the web, which means that being online is crucial in this system.
Run Chrome OS from USB
Just because you don’t have a Chromebook doesn’t mean you can’t give this operating system a good test, and enjoy a simple and portable environment. A while ago we talked about the possibility of running Linux distros from a USB stick using YUMI Multiboot. This time, although we are not going to use YUMI, the procedure will be very similar thanks to the free Chrome OS port called Chromium OS, which in the long run is practically the same system. We are then going to explain the steps to make a bootable USB memory to Boot Chromium from any PC.
- Enter the following link to download one of the Chromium OS Builds. These are updated very frequently and you can see that they have been organized in 3 folders, where the first are the ones that are updated daily and the last weekly. Inside each folder you will find files in the .img.7z or vdi.7z format and I download the .img.7z format as it is compatible with Winrar, my favorite file compressor. Another aspect to consider is the name of the files, where you will find 3 types of bulids designed for the most common types of processors (the name CARMOS denotes ARM architecture processors, camd64os denotes x64 processors and cx86os denotes x86 architecture processors). Make sure to download the one that most closely matches the type of processor on the computer where you plan to use it. For example a camd64os on a PC with a 64-bit processor or a cx86os on a 32-bit processor.
- Unzip the build using your favorite program like 7zip or Winrar for example, you should end up with an .img file
- Download and install Win32 image writer On the official website you will be directed to the following link to download the application.
- We connect a USB memory to the PC that we want to use for Chrome OS. Its capacity must be at least 4GB (although that space will not be used in its entirety). Then in Win32 image writer we select the memory unit and look for the .img file that we previously downloaded and press the “write” button to prepare our memory.
Basically that’s all we have to do. Now we just have to use the memory on a computer that had previously been configured to boot from USB sticks. Don’t worry about your main operating system (for example Windows) this will not be affected not at all since everything will be run from the USB stick; however from Chromium OS you can access your hard drive to read or write files, so be careful not to delete important files.
Keep in mind that as it is not an official version of Chrome OS, 100% compatibility with all computers is not fully guaranteed and even if it works for you, some drivers may not be recognized. For my part, I have been lucky and in the teams where I have tried everything, everything has worked practically perfectly. Finally one of the differences of Chromium OS with respect to Chrome OS, is that the first one does not update automatically with the new versions (at least for now), which means that you should be going from time to time to check new builds to test improvements. Note that Chromium OS is not yet intended as an end-user product and this may change in a short time.
Chrome OS user experience
The learning curve with this operating system is practically nil if you are already an experienced user of the Chrome browser and its extensions. Well, as I mentioned before, the browser is the center and source of everything. Apart from your Google account, there is very little that you will have to configure additionally on your first Chrome OS boot.
For everyday use, Chrome OS meets most of the needs of the average user, so it wasn’t frustrating at all to use it (whenever you’re online). In the application store you will be able to find an alternative web-app for almost most of the programs for Windows that you may already be used to. However, you are going to miss some programs for which there is still no web app available.
Pros
- Lightweight, it runs well even on computers with very low hardware specs.
- Portable, just enter your Google username and the entire system will bring your applications and personal settings.
- Simple, almost anyone can master it in no time by having virtually no more programs than the browser itself.
- Perfect for educational or work environments where specialized software is not required.
- Virtually free (for the moment) of viruses and malware.
Cons
- Simplicity, one of its virtues is also one of its problems, because being so simple you are going to be restricted in the amount of things you can do with it.
- The Chrome app store is not that extensive yet and is littered with many applications of dubious provenance.
- Very few applications work in offline mode, which means that you will not be able to access them when you do not have internet access.
- The best applications are generally those of Google, which shows that there are still not many developers porting their applications to this operating system.
Have you tried Chrome OS yet? tell your experience of use and tricks. Keep reading too: