Family Tech: The no back-up, web-everywhere laptop

Hope for harried, confused computer owners may be at hand.

Computers are hard to own.  They take forever to get started.  Users must install  anti-virus software, keep it updated, and be sure to run virus scans frequently.  Scans present a confusing array of messages about infections, ad ware, quarantines, etc.

Files get lost in a jungle of folders and drives.  Users must remember to make regular backups of their data; something most of us forget to do until we have suffered a catastrophic loss.

Many people I meet have much more computer than they need.  I worked with a senior citizen lately who was using only 2 gigabytes of their 320 gigabyte drive for their own data.  For many users, email, web browsing, viewing photos and videos, listening to music, and document creation is all they need.  Yet the operating systems from Microsoft and Apple can do so much more and require powerful computers.

Google last week announced a new computing platform that just might make a lot of complexity of computing go away for typical users.

Chromebook is a small laptop computer.  Instead of running Windows 7, it runs a small, almost invisible operating system.

When you turn a Chromebook on, it is ready to use a mere eight seconds later or instantly if it was in sleep mode.

Google gave away test versions of Chromebook a few months ago.  I applied for one, but did not receive one.  A friend did, and lent it to me this week.  I am writing this column on it.

Everything you do on a Chromebook you do in a web browser.

You don’t install software.  Want the abilities found in Microsoft Word?  You use Google Docs, a full word processor, spreadsheet and slide show package that works entirely in your browser.

There is a web store for finding more apps.  Everything I listed above a typical user does, they can do on a Chromebook.

Since it does not install software, viruses cannot find a toehold.  Files you create with Google Docs are stored on Google servers and automatically backed up.  Google gives you generous space, and you can buy more for as little as 25 cents per gigabyte per year.  Another free service, Backupify, will backup your Google Docs files to their own servers giving you extra peace of mind.

There is a small hard drive, a solid state one, that lets you download files you may get in email, or pull from your Dropbox folder.

To work, the Chromebook must be connected to the web.  While all models have wifi, many have 3g cell connectivity, too.  Verizon has a very cost effective data program for 3g Chromebooks.

Samsung and Acer are coming out with models.  They will initially be available from Best Buy and Amazon June 15th.  Models reportedly start at $349.

Chromebooks easy implementation make them valuable for business and education.  Google is making it easy by leasing Chromebooks to businesses starting at $28 per user per month, and $20 for schools. Both come with powerful administrative tools to allow the business or school to administer the laptops they are providing to their users.

If you do a lot of video editing, or need to run specialized software, a Chromebook will not be for you.

Its still a new concept, and I’ve only used one for a few hours, but with instant on, hours long battery life, and the ease of maintaining them, I think it an option home users may want to consider.

Read more at the link page at  http://bit.ly/FamilyTech. Visit Mark's blog at http://markstout.blogspot.com. His e-mail address is markstout@gmail.com.