Chromebook question.

Seeing as Seilerbird likes Chromebooks, I was wondering what software you can run on them.  What I read said it's great for web browsing, YouTube, etc. But can you run programs such as TurboTax, Libre Office or Open Office on them?

Chromebooks run Chrome O.S., a derivative of Linux.  They really work best for people who always have an internet connection.


It will not run any Windows apps natively.  Google has a web store for Chrome O.S. apps: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/apps

Here's some info: https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/1056325?hl=en


Cheers,

Dan K.

Good for you checking before purchase. I am on some graphics-related FB groups and Internet forums, and I can?t count how many people buy a Chromebook only to be told after the fact that they don?t run the graphics programs we use. Of course there are many programs they do run, so check based upon your own usage. Personally I couldn?t stand having to have 100% internet, but we boondock in the middle of nowhere a reasonable amount of time.

As others have said, Chromebooks essentially run just the Google Chrome browser, which is integrated into the special Chrome OS. You can do anything you can do with a web browser, but not a lot more. For most people, that's all they do anyway - web browsing and web email. There are Chrome apps (aka "extensions")  that run as part of the browser so you can have popular add-ons such as password vaults, Dropbox, Evernote, Google Earth, basic Office functions (not the whole Office Suite), etc. But if you have a favorite graphics/photo editor or game software you like, you are out of luck.

Here are most of the app extensions available:  https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/extensions

Seems like Chromebook would be OK for me when traveling but not what I want at home.  Thanks for the info.

Turbo Tax. Tax Act and the others all have web based systems you can do with ANY browser enabled laptop, tablet or even phone .. But run them "Offline" No.

THere are a lot of apps you can run. but about like your cell phone.. Same kind of stuff.  IN fact. modern Chromebooks (latest update) can run many android apps.

I'm not a super technological person, but I've been using chromebooks for years instead of a "regular" computer and I've never found anything that I couldn't do on it that I have wanted or needed to do from a computer.

RVMommaTo6 said:

I'm not a super technological person, but I've been using chromebooks for years instead of a "regular" computer and I've never found anything that I couldn't do on it that I have wanted or needed to do from a computer.

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So much depends on your needs. I use Audacity (audio editing), ACDSee and the Gimp (photo management and editing), Open Office, and VLC (video/audio player), among others, just on my laptop -- especially used when I'm on the road. On my desktop I also run a flight simulator, Pinnacle Studio for creating/editing videos, and other stuff.

Chromebooks won't do any of those. Granted not everyone does most of those, but that's why I say it depends on your needs.

and I've never found anything that I couldn't do on it that I have wanted or needed to do from a computer.

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Which of course is highly dependent on what you wanted to do.  For many people, however, a Chromebook is fully capable of meeting all their needs, though they might have to change to a different app for some things.  It's something to consider very strongly.


Right now I use five applications that are not available via a web/browser interface.  As an occasional author, I utilize a lot of the functions of Microsoft Word, more than are readily available in web-based substitutes. I also create & manipulate pdfs and photos using offline apps.  I  use Thunderbird to manage my 5 email accounts, though I could probably use Gmail online with only a modest loss of function, and I use a personal note file system. The latter could be replaced with Evernote (which I also use) if I ever get around to converting the years of stuff I've accumulated there, but I am a bit uncomfortable with losing offline access to the data. 

I started using chromebook just over 4 years ago at home.  I'm still using the same machine, and with a recent battery change it's running just the same as it did when i started.  That's the biggest beauty in my opinion...Just a very quick reset to being it back to factory settings...and it never gets bogged down like a traditional PC does.  I've had to reset it twice I think when it started acting funny.  Anyway, my machine is so old it doesn't run any of the android apps so I have no experience there.

At work I have a PC, and I also have a couple mac machines at home..and my kids have PC laptops...A few times a year I find myself migrating something over to one of those machines to do a little pdf editing or special format printing.  printing is really the only thing they don't have dialed in yet.  Once in a while I'll run into something that's in landscape orientation, or similar things, that I just can't get to print with it.

Google actually offers a fairly substantial suite of solutions that work great, coupled with google drive.  Decent word processing, basic image editing, to do list type things, spreadsheet, etc...  IMO good enough for most folks except for perhaps extremely serious hobbyist (such as photography) and of course professional level stuff.

Anyway, to the OP's question.... I think a really good way to get a feel for what it is, would be to use chrome browser on any PC.  It's almost the same experience....and by the way it syncs seamlessly between any machine I'm on.  I can log on even with my machine at work, or even a borrowed computer and my browsing history, bookmarks, and all sync right over.  Extensions too.  The only thing the browser won't demo I suppose, would be the android apps.

For those who wish to do more it is not at all difficult to jailbreak or root a chrome book so it can run software that you normally couldn?t.  Some folks have even replaced the entire OS with a different brand of Linux.  Simple instructions are all over the web.

Chromebooks do have SOME offline apps (programs) I use one called simply TEXT (TXT) for the obvious  use. it is like Note pad on Windows but not so limited.

Not sure what else is out there. that's the only program I use of that type.

I also have the Constitution of the US, Declaration of Independence and two Bibles on board for offline use. but.. Not often in these forums (Use them alot elsewhere though).