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Comment by cocoy | Hacker News Reader

Is it just me, or is Google's Chromebook fighting yesterday's war? Chromebook for me doesn't make sense, not with Android. I'm sorry, the zdnet article is crap.

Chromebook is not a Windows Killer, and none of the five reasons cited would not compel the grandmother who lives next door or that man who doesn't care about the religious nature of Microsoft Office versus LibreOffice. Nor do I see a compelling reason for a business owner to make a switch.

Normal people just want things that work when they turn them on. And they don't want complicated.

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> Normal people just want things that work when they turn them on. And they don't want complicated

Is that not the Chromebook's design? They have produced a product with curated hardware (QA tested and none of the sharp edges of Linux), an operating system that has a browser with one of the best UIs as the primary interface, and a pretty secure and automatically updating operating system that will help protect against malware. From the second he gets it, a user can turn it on and start using the Chromebook.

The only worry I see is not having standard apps like Microsoft Office and Google hopes that Docs will be able to replace that.

> The only worry I see is not having standard apps like Microsoft Office and Google hopes that Docs will be able to replace that.

This is the same worry I have. I'm not sure Google 'gets' how hooked into some of the more sophisticated features of Word, Excel, etc. many businesses are. I love Google Docs and default to it for anything that doesn't require a lot of sophistication. But it just doesn't even scratch the surface of what I need when I write complex documents. I could see new businesses who aren't entrenched in any of this stuff picking it up - it's certainly how I would start a business. But I can't see established businesses buying into it when the "bread and butter" software that they buy their computers for in the first place is so weak. Ironically, Google's best hope might be that its customers will use Microsoft's own online version of Office.

The only worry I see is not having standard apps like Microsoft Office and Google hopes that Docs will be able to replace that.

Because they have Office, Microsoft is in a better position to make a Chromebook than Google is.

If Microsoft made a "Chromebook" but with some Windows lite OS and Office included, it could cost a lot more, you can be sure of that.

Well, I said they'd be in a better position. I didn't claim that they wouldn't #^%$@& it up.

Nor do I see a compelling reason for a business owner to make a switch

How about paying a fraction of a normal PCs cost for hardware and OS that is automatically upgraded every three years. And not having to deal with Windows malware.

In many places, the business apps that people need access to are web-based or available via a virtual machine or Terminal Services. For these people, this is a no-brainer.

Yes, but there you are not talking of a Windows Killer, you are talking about a computer that is very good to some kinds of company with not so sophisticated apps that runs online. Windows is a software that works well for almost all kinds of people and companies, not only for some kind of them.

Except that some users don't need Windows. There are a lot of people that just don't need a general purpose PC and the associated cost. That's the Windows killer. It isn't that a Chrome OS box is a Windows killer. It's the acknowledgement that not everyone needs Windows. Once that has been established, that is the Windows killer.

Also, normal people don´t want to pay more monthly expenses, especially for something that normally don´t have any monthly expenses. And beeing always updated is not somehing normal people cares a lot about

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