this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2024
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Since the huge push to SaaS I've seen plenty of companies that essentially run thin clients.
The local workstations are just thier access to login to X website that host thier apps and data.
Zero reason for them to switch to win11 or buy new hardware due to "incompatibility".
These end users can be trained to use mint or Ubuntu and be just as productive at work.
Not even trained. Same browser, same login...
Funnily enough, this is what a chromebook was made to do. A computer that was only a browser. Unfortunately, the hardware was severely underpowered, and the custom software wasn't as flexible as a simple Linux desktop is capable of. (Almost no software support outside of Google)
I saw a "gaming Chromebook" for $649 (USD) at the big box electronics and appliance store today.
At first I was astounded, but it did have a high refresh rate display and some type of GeForce iGPU. Apparently designed around cloud gaming. Which is na interesting use case.
Maybe designed to be used with googles Stadia (now defunct I think)?
Stadia has been abandoned for long enough I don't think it'd be used in marketing.
This was the description:
Acer - Chromebook 516 GE Cloud Gaming Laptop - 16" 2560x1600 120Hz - Intel Core i5-1240P - 8GB RAM - 256GB SSD
Looks like it comes with 3 months of GeForce Now and Amazon Luna.
I was mistaken about the GeForce iGPU - that placard must've been for GeForce Now. It has an Iris Xe.
I think I saw Xbox Game pass in the marketing too.
Still, pretty cool idea.
I think they're also working on getting Steam running. I don't remember how that's going, though.
Those gaming Chromebooks are so wild. I saw them for $1000!
The ones I saw a year ago was bragging about playing mobile games and Google Stadia.
But like... Why! Why spend that much when the alternatives are so much better?
For the price the specs aren't terrible.
Depending on need they can be a very effective device. Keep in mind they can also easily run a lot of android packages and Linux. Some come in tablet form factor with a keyboard folio case....I was looking at the Lenovo Duet for a while but ended up buying a OnePlus Pad recently.
If I remember correctly, those actually have Steam with Proton built in.
You can get reasonable Chromebooks and boxes. They just aren't cheap so they are less popular.
When web apps took off a decade ago, I was secretly rooting for this.
OSes shouldnt matter anymore. Everything should funnel through a browser. WASM is already bringing traditional desktop apps to the web. Microsoft and Apple can die in a fire.
But with the migration, now the fight is to stop Google from owning browsers.
They also could use Chrome OS
I hope you can install Firefox, because The Googs is pushing for Manifest v3, which means no more functional adblock.
Linux or bust, babyyyyyy
Honestly I'm not sure why Google is allowed to to even have Chrome OS from an antitrust perspective.
The great thing about Chrome OS is that it is really easy to setup and use. The tradeoff is that you have no control.
Swapping Microsoft for Google is not much of an improvement imho
What's more, swapping MS for Google is probably worse from a privacy point of view :(
It is much easier in terms of maintenance. That's its only really upside.
But those only have a short life, they don't get many updates iirc.
It depends but far point
Go big or go home. No need to stick with anything from a large corporation if you're already pulling away from M$
Chrome OS is really easy to administer