The Lemon Fool

Posted: **March 3rd, 2020, 2:12 pm**

https://www.howtogeek.com/659499/travel ... encrypted/

Chromebooks are great travel companions. They have a lot of advantages over Windows laptops: Their storage is always encrypted by default, they’re inexpensive, and they aren’t vulnerable to many of the problems that affect Windows PCs.

There's been a bit of Chrome OS discussion over on the Linux thread but I thought I'd open up a dedicated thread, turn it into a bit of a link resource and helpdesk for anyone considering going down that path with the current pluses / minuses and future updates that Google have in the pipeline.

I own a Lenovo Chromebook S340-14 (bought on steep discount from PC World).
Intel Celeron N4000, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC...https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/le ... 8LGCS31289
I'm running it with Android (9) and Linux (Debian 9) in parallel (containerised) to Chrome OS, which is a good combination (when it all works as planned...).

I'm quite keen for other people - especially current Chrome OS users - to contribute, but can we please avoid turning it into a geek **ssing contest (with the same usual suspects).
I'm aiming this thread at the average user of this board with very little technical knowledge. Keep it on topic and the pedantic detours and arguments to a minimum please...

Links to technical articles (Developer, Crosh, Flags, Linux command line, Android, VM+ containers et al) are fine, those that are technical can follow those links as they wish, the above caveats having been noted for the benefit of the majority.

Thanks.

Posted: **March 3rd, 2020, 2:58 pm**

Recommended offline add-on extensions? My shortlist would be:

Calendar Clock (link) -- tiny and simple, and really should be a standard part of Chrome OS
Caret (link) -- serious text editor (in vim emulation mode, of course!)
Polarr Photo Editor (link) -- excellent photo editing tool
Salmon Player (link) -- a bit more elegant than Chrome OS's basic media player (not been updated in a while, though)
Web Server (link) -- for times when bluetooth just doesn't want to play ball

I used Linux exclusively for many years, but all I use these days is a cheap Chromebook. It does everything I want; though admittedly a fair bit of what it does -- spreadsheets, docs, storage, etc -- is actually done in the cloud by Google servers.

If I were still working, and doing things like building gcc and chrome from source, a Chromebook might not quite cut it. But as I'm not, it's fine. In fact, in a lot of ways it's a joy not to have all the bell and whistle controls that Linux has.

Posted: **March 3rd, 2020, 3:22 pm**

If you are considering buying a Chromebook, the support lifecycle should be part of your decision process.
My Lenovo has support until June 2026.
https://support.google.com/chrome/a/ans ... 0366?hl=en

File types and external devices that work on Chromebooks

https://support.google.com/chromebook/a ... 3?hl=en-GB

Posted: **March 3rd, 2020, 3:35 pm**

I bought a Chromebook because I was fed up with all the hassle of MS Windows. The only thing missing for me is Lightroom and Photoshop. Polarr is quite good though. Other than that my Chromebook is quick and hassle free. These days I mostly use my tablet for everything except Hyptuss which runs on an old Windows 7 PC.

Posted: **March 3rd, 2020, 3:54 pm**

I planned on looking at Chrome OS as a VirtualBox virtual machine on Windows 10, but unfortunately the Neverware Cloudready version https://www.neverware.com/freedownload does not work on VirtualBox due to a graphics incompatibility.

I believe it does work on VMware but I have more than enough other gubbins on my laptop so I'm not inclined to install VMware just for this.

--kiloran

Posted: **March 3rd, 2020, 4:02 pm**

The Android capability on more recent Chromebooks does come in handy if you want to maintain logged in Chrome OS + Google services and a more anonymous presence.
I run Brave and Firefox Preview as privacy first Android browsers, by default they block pretty much everything -- to the point of breaking websites if you aren't careful -- and can delete history/cookies et al on exit (quit).
I'm also running the Android Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 encrypted DNS app. (Not a VPN, it doesn't hide your IP address.)

All available on the Google Play store, no dodgy sideloading required.

Posted: **March 4th, 2020, 7:24 am**

Lon.TV Chrome OS devices review playlist here, Chromebooks and boxes.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... Dg_cahGcN_

Posted: **March 9th, 2020, 12:39 pm**

Found some useful CL scripts here recently for the Linux side of things...https://chromeunboxed.com/

Posted: **March 12th, 2020, 6:46 pm**

https://9to5google.com/2020/03/11/chrom ... nning-app/

Chrome OS to get native app for printing and scanning documents.

Cont.

Posted: **March 12th, 2020, 11:54 pm**

https://zipso.net/chromebook-specs-comparison-table/

Thinking of buying a new Chromebook but not sure which one to choose?
Use our comprehensive specs comparison table and buying guide to quickly see the differences between each model, and find the best Chromebook for your needs.

Cont.

Posted: **April 5th, 2020, 9:47 am**

Good site here for the technically adept, especially if you've got an older Chrome OS device that's no longer supported and fancy experimenting with alternative firmware/OS'.
https://mrchromebox.tech/#home

Posted: **April 16th, 2020, 12:16 pm**

More Linux (Crostini container) stuff here...https://chromeunboxed.com/crostini/

Posted: **April 24th, 2020, 2:06 pm**

Screenshot and snip options here, handy...https://techiestechguide.com/snipping-t ... chrome-os/

Posted: **April 24th, 2020, 7:03 pm**

Infrasonic wrote:Screenshot and snip options here, handy...https://techiestechguide.com/snipping-t ... chrome-os/

This list of shortcuts includes the screenshot options and a lot more:
https://support.google.com/chromebook/a ... 1?hl=en-GB
Good luck remembering them all! (I have to look most of them up regularly...)

For those on non-chromebook Chrome OS, unfortunately the standard keyboard equivalents aren't listed.

Posted: **April 26th, 2020, 1:09 pm**

Infrasonic wrote:https://9to5google.com/2020/03/11/chrome-os-native-printing-scanning-app/
Chrome OS to get native app for printing and scanning documents.

Cont.

There was a recent Ars Technica article here which is worth reading for the comments on Chrome OS and printing. Quite a few variables.

Posted: **April 29th, 2020, 6:58 am**

Chrome OS and browser to be separated?...https://9to5google.com/2020/04/28/googl ... r-updates/

Posted: **April 29th, 2020, 11:25 am**

Messing about in the Linux container last night I noticed that Brave browser has an anonymous Tor option. So I gave it a go, quite nippy.
I though I'd check if it really was hiding my IP address so went over to MXToolbox and yes, I was suddenly in Frankfurt with a brand new IP.

Unfortunately that IP address was on around 8 malware/spam blacklists, which meant browsing the web ran me constantly into Cloudflare 'prove you're a human' issues on sites that use CF. So maybe give Tor a miss for browsing/sending email et al...

Posted: **May 3rd, 2020, 6:47 pm**

https://www.androidcentral.com/how-fix- ... chromebook

How to fix slow Wi-Fi on your Chromebook

Posted: **May 15th, 2020, 11:12 am**

Niche but might be of interest to some who hanker after the Psion like convenience of yesteryear.

https://liliputing.com/2020/05/updated- ... books.html

Updated ChromiumOS builds turn GPD Pocket and Pocket 2 into tiny Chromebooks

Cont.

Posted: **May 18th, 2020, 6:10 am**

https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/05/1 ... hromebook/

As many of us are now working and schooling from home, you may have be thinking about dusting off that old laptop in the closet. You know, that one that runs Windows... 7? 8? XP? Who can be bothered, honestly? But it's old, it's slow, and you know it's really not going to be very pleasant to use. On top of that, it'll probably be an absolute Swiss cheese of security holes, and you really don't want to be putting a laptop without proper Windows or Mac OS security updates online. You do have a real option to make that machine feel a lot fresher and safer, though, so long as working inside a browser fits most of your day to day needs. Specifically, Chrome OS.

While Google officially supports only devices that are custom-built to fit Chrome OS, thanks to Neverware's CloudReady fork of Chromium OS, almost any x86 Windows or Mac OS laptop can become a Chromebook, plus: it's totally free. We'll show you how to get set up...

Cont.

The Lemon Fool

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