What is a Chromebook?

The Chromebook, what is it?

The Operating System: Chrome OS.

Simply put, it is a device that runs Google's Chrome Operating System (OS). The Chrome OS is an operating system based on the Linux kernel. Google's OS is designed to work with web applications, and installed applications. The OS is designed to run on both x86 and ARM chips.  The software architecture is very simple as stated above, it is Google Chrome running within a new windowing system. All web-based applications work automatically. The OS has a 6-week refresh cycle, the first of its kind. It means that Chromebook users have a system that is getting better over time, as opposed to loaded down legacy software systems currently available on the market.

The Computers: there are two main offerings: the Chromebook, and the Chromebox

The Chromebook, the laptop version became commercially available in 2011 after the prototype, the CR-48 was introduced in 2010. It is manufactured by practically all the major hardware producers, such as Dell, HP, Samsung, Toshiba, Asus, Lenovo, Acer, etc... Google has it's own line of Chromebooks called Pixel. 

Acer and Samsung released the first commercially available Chromebooks in the summer of 2011, it was not until the end of 2012 that the arrival of the ARM chip. Today, Chromebooks are offered in a variety of chip flavors, have all types of graphic cards, displays, but the Chrome OS is the same in all of them. They have become the top sellers on markets like Amazon. According to a NPD report , in 2013, Chromebooks captured 21% of the laptop market, and 8% of the overall computer tablet market in the United States. A new report shows a 29% increase in the sales of Chromebooks. 

Chromebooks are used in all kinds of environments and settings: K-12 schools, Fortune 500, Government agencies, Individuals and anyone. Chromebooks are now offered in screen sizes from 10 to 25 inch, with or without touchscreen capability, in hybrid format and much more.

The Chromebox: it is the desktop computer running Chrome OS. It connects to the standard computer peripherals such as a keyboard, a monitor and a mouse yet  has a tiny footprint relative to its legacy counterparts. (Towers, mini-towers and everything in between). 

Chromeboxes are used in video streaming, video conferencing, signage, and and regular cloud based operations they were designed to perform.

Both the Chromebook and the Chromebox have access to Google's endless supply of free applications for individual use, and the paid Google Apps for Work suite for businesses.

Yes, you can run Office and other software on Chromebooks using extensions.

No, Chromebooks do not catch bugs, and the likes, 

Finally, Chromebooks will not break your budget.

We invite you you to visit www.p2commercial.com for more information, or to order your Chromebook or Chromebox.

Productivity

Productivity.
If one word can define Chromebooks, it is productivity. For so long, we have grown accustomed to window machines, and for some, to Apple products. For Window machines, the ones that I am personally more interested in here, the speed, the price, the maintenance are constant sources of irritation.
Speed:
Chromebooks, regardless of the brand, are fast in accessing the internet: 10 seconds or less, and that includes signing on to the system. When was the last time you had anything come close to that?
Price:
Leaving aside Google's Pixel Chromebooks that few have heard of, Chromebooks are affordable compared to Window machines, in general. Most Chromebooks are priced under $300.00, the price of a smartphone! You do not have to dig at all to access all that the Google's ecosystem has to offer, at no cost, in term of applications: Gmail, Calendar, Search, Contacts
           Google Drive: for those who have only known and worked with the old  Microsoft Office, this is Office on steroids. it is your "hard drive" in the cloud, i.e. a remote data center, where you create and store ALL types of files.
          Google Drive houses
                Google Docs, your word processing app,
                Google Sheets, your spreadsheet app,
                Google Slides, your slides app,
                Google Docs, your word processing app,
                Google Forms, your Forms app,
                Google Drawings , your Drawings app,
Why give the list of the apps that you get with a Chromebook? The answer is very simple: to counter those who claim that Chromebooks are useless to average person because they have no application to run. Those who believe that you need  all the rich text futures of some legacy software to surf the net, read or write emails, or simply create an intake form for your small business, even to just do your homework.
Chromebooks make efficient use of your budget by streamlining your cash outlay: all the applications you need are not only free, they are also kept up to date, so you do not have to.

For Businesses:
Google offers a business suite of applications called Google Apps for Work. This suite combines all the apps listed above with 24/7 support and a 99.9% up time guaranty. It includes a 30 GB base mixed storage per account.  To date more than 5,000,000 businesses have adopted this suite, schools, and governments, including the DOD use Google Apps for some o their activities

Maintenance:
How do you maintain a device that has no moving parts, that stores your data in the cloud and make it accessible to you, 24/7 from ANY device that connects to the internet? The answer is you do not. The files you create using any of the applications listed are saved automatically, as you type! Did I mention that you can upload Any file type, and access it the same way?
Chromebooks only have local solid state drives whose sole purpose is temporary storage, the cloud is where all happens.
Because you do not have to buy any software, that you access your information securely on the go, businesses that adopt the system can deploy their resources to other productive uses that enhance their overall's productivity without compromising their competitiveness.