Remix chomps Marshmallow, updates its Android for PCs An imminent update to Jide’s Remix OS, for Android, is the first to be based on Marshmallow 6.0 and a bunch of UI enhancements. Remix OS brings what the industry euphemistically calls “desktop productivity” to Android: in other words, multitasking, overlapping windows, true keyboard and mouse support, and file management. …
ChromeOS doesn't have the advantage of being ubiquitous yet, Android does.
I'd expect the take up of Chromebooks would be far higher had they been androidbooks. People know android, they know what to expect as are familiar with it on their phones. The percentage bothered to run 'doctored' versions must be minimal compared to the larger group who would use what is pre-installed.
Of course there'd be still some returns, some people expect devices with a laptop design to run windows programs.
Chromebooks stink
They are based on the concept of cheap always on Internet / Cloud.
Real local applications are an after thought.
If you don't have reliable 24x 7 Web with back up forget Chromebook
If you want control of your own data and a even just a decent local wordprocessor, forget chromebook.
It's a web client disguised as a netbook.
If Chromebooks stank, I wouldn't have three of them.
I've got an ancient, yet still supported with weekly updates, Samsung 3G one - so your WiFi argument is out of the window. Or, I could just tether my phone via USB, or use a MiFi.
I've got an HP11 which charges from a MicroUSB. That's my grab-and-go device as it means I only take one charger with me for two phones, tablet and Chromebook when I work away.
I've then got an Acer C720 which is the powerful one I use for heavier tasks.
Heavier tasks? On a Chromebook? Madness, right? I can use Office online, I can use Pixlr instead of Gimp or Photoshop, Outlook Web Access works fine too. In fact I can do a day's work on my Chromebook and nobody ever really knows I wasn't using my piece of crap company supplied i7 Windows machine which feels much harder work.
Google Docs works offline, files are available offline if you need them to as well. It plays music and video. I can't play games - boo hoo.
They may not suit your usage scenario, which remains absent from your rant, but they don't stink - they're a nice example of stripping out unnecessary functions and ending up with a light weight, long life device.
" Samsung 3G one - so your WiFi argument is out of the window. Or, I could just tether my phone via USB, or use a MiFi."
Rich person that can afford mobile data
Lucky person that has decent mobile signal.
Google Docs? Not Private. It's for collaboration of stuff that's going to be public. A truly stupid solution for a programmer or novel writer.
The whole use case of a Chromebook is to harvest user data even more than Android. Linux works fine on stuff better than a tablet / phone. There is no reason at all for ChromeOS other than Google exploitation.
I've noticed El Reg is becoming a little lax in linking to the actual company / product, preferring instead to send us to other articles on the site. Sure, I can type in a URL or go Bing my way around the internet, but it would certainly add value if I could do something that I thought was the whole idea of the World Wide Web directly from the article...
"No we don't. That's not a thing." - Did you 'google' 'bing it' to check (or even duckduck it?)
OffBeatMammal - Thinks it is, seemingly. He named himself well.
Had it been in common parlance, it wouldn't have drawn my attention. There are few URLs with 'bingit' in the title (probably owned or sponsored by MS), but I doubt even inside Microsoft many use 'bing it'.
"At one point Microsoft was developing a runtime to allow Android binaries to run on Windows 10."
Running Linux decently would do the magic. IT people wise.
Best wishes to Remix. AMD -if not dropping dead- will bring the wattage down enough to make it palatable for portability -in the next shrinking steep.
I always suspected this crowd to be very privacy-conscious and averse to cloudy services like Google apps and anything that is generally not private. So, it surprises me quite a bit to see the number of comments voicing, not only ownership of these units, but endorsements of them in their vanilla state! Obviously, its a whole other discussion if using the hardware and booting to different OSs.
Is this a vocal minority, or would you say that Chromebooks are really gaining popularity with those in the industry?
Whilst some may do indeed use them in their vanilla state, it would expect quite a few use Crouton or actually replace ChromeOS with another one (which is bit more involved).
The attraction for many is fairly portable laptop with reasonable battery life for not very much money.
>you say that Chromebooks are really gaining popularity with those in the industry?
If I had to guess it might be a quick cheap way to get non household (ie not connecting to my home router) extended family members on the internet. ChromeOS being so locked down probably would reduce being bothered after the fact as well (no calls about deleting c:\windows for example).
Works nicely, 8GB partition for it on the SSD. Runs swift, no wifi though. Only ethernet.
90% of apps seemed to work fine, it looks promising. I can see myself using it for the usual stuff I use my laptop for, but not yet.
It's just not quite there, impressive nonetheless.
Haven't tried this version yet, but the older one booted and ran really well on the surface from USB.
Touchscreen and wifi both work. Didn't test the pen or keyboard and don't have much by way of android programs to test, but MXplayer found my SD card and played video reasonably well in windowed mode and passably well in fullscreen (some control issues with the touch not mapping exactly right).
If I was a real droid user and wasn't using the surface for a drawing tablet it'd be a viable alternative to Win8.1 on that machine.
Why do so many go on about the horror of Google grabbing data from you and fail to mention at the same time that MS do so at least as much with Windows 10 if not more so and even Apple does it. . .
They then happily install an OS from a company in China and don't seem to worry about the potential risks that runs or install ROM's on their phones with no idea if it is reporting back more than Google ever did.
As for myself I don't have any problem with Google doing what they do or I would use their services which have freed me from MS completely. They can bore themselves as much as they like looking at my browser history of my searching ideas for my next holiday etc.
I have an Android phone and a chromebook plus chromebox to run my online life and the speed of starting and stopping OS without waiting for another update plus the massive drop in possible virus etc attacks are great.
After nearly a year of mainly then completely being Google based I have not missed windows and its programs once and have gained hours of my life back not waiting for windows to start.
@ Big_Ted
"Why do so many go on about the horror of Google grabbing data from you and fail to mention at the same time that MS do so at least as much with Windows 10 if not more so and even Apple does it. . ."
The answer to your question seems so simple I am surprised you haven't thought of it already.
Everywhere I go on the internet, Google is there waiting for me, or not very far away.
Nowhere I go on the internet, is Windows 10, or any Apple product involved in my journey.
The use of Apple products, or Windows 10 is voluntary on my part, and I choose not to volunteer.
Why would I willingly submit to even more of Google's snooping?
@ Big_Ted
"Really so neither Apple or MS have browsers then ?
Thats the way most people do most of their internet stuff..."
Perhaps a more thorough re-reading of my previous post will reveal to you the extensive use of the personal pronoun "I", which is not usually synonymous with "most people".
I don't use either Apple or Microsoft products to do my "internet stuff", therefore neither Apple, nor Microsoft can spy on me through their products.
Google will spy on me no matter which product I use, because unlike Apple or Microsoft, Google is ubiquitous on the internet.
If I were to use a Google OS, or a Google web browser, Google would be able to collect much more information than they already do.
No Apple +
No Microsoft +
As little Google as possible =
Less spying
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