Intel reveals new Haswell-based Chrome OS kit from old, new partners Intel has announced that four of its OEM partners will have new devices based on the company's new "Haswell" chips and running Google's browser-based Chrome OS on the market in time for the holiday shopping season. Or, as Intel software and services headman Doug Fisher described it during his keynote at the Intel Developer …
Curious if anyone knows how the battery life compares to a windows ultrabook? Linux's power management traditionally doesn't seem to be as effective as windows perhaps because of lack of support from the hardware folks.. with Intel helping so much I wonder if things are on par, or perhaps even better than Windows?
(perhaps the power management has improved significantly recently my statement is based on my own personal experience over the past 13 years using linux on laptops as well as comments from countless others that report similar experiences -- not that power management has stopped me from using Linux on laptops it's still my primary OS)
My Samsung based Exynos when running Debian lives to its promise - it delivers ~ 7-8h as a browsing typewriter on wifi. I have not tried 3G. I would expect that to be marginally better.
In any case - a chromebook in developer mode with Debian or Ubuntu installed is presently the best value for the money as far as low end notebooks are concerned. You get a 1360x768 (or better) screen and 7-8h of battery life for ~ 220£. My only concern is the Atom. I have been burned by bad graphics and CPU performance on Intel crippleware more than once. So I'd rather stick with the arm variety for now despite it having a number of minor hardware support niggles.
>>ChromeOS stores everything in Google's cloud: the lack of local storage = lack of privacy<<
Well mine doesn't ! I can use anyone's Cloud storage but rarely do so.
Use SD Card, USB External Hard Drive & Seagate's Wireless 1TB Drive.
Many Apps can also run offline.
Plenty of documentation & eBooks on Chrome OS.
Will certainly be getting one of the new models before Xmas.
Cheap as chips.
whether it's possible to hack these things so they run Windows, and properly?
I need a lightweight Haswell Windows machine for university as only that will run the voice activated software I require in order to type more than a paragraph or two. Unfortunately the main lightweight Haswell machines thus far are nearly a grand a pop.
It's fairly trivial to install Linux on a (non-bootloader locked) Windows machine, because Linux is open source and includes drivers for most hardware out of the box. Also, because dozens of millions of people have done so, you can generally find quality free help on-line for any problems you encounter.
The opposite is not true, however. Getting Windows to work acceptably on hardware optimized for something other than Windows compatibility may well be impossible. Most people buy Windows pre-installed, and commercial support is often behind a pay wall. And Microsoft paid support for end users is limited to "supported devices", which a Chromebook is not.
So. I would recommend that you first search for a "How To" on installing Windows on these new Chromebooks. If you don't find one that looks clear and well-read (e.g., numerous comments indicating they have been vetted by the community), don't even try. Pay more for pre-installed.
You might also get involved in an open source project to help hackers create the voice activated software you need, so that it can be supported on all operating systems. You're the subject matter expert on what's needed. It's a long-term view, but it's the best outcome for everyone IMHO.
I have a 14" HP Chromebook. It is very good. Not had it long and a little envious of the new models. I have gotten 6 hours on it twice now when not using the power adapter and rated time is 5 hours.
It is excellent as a secondary unit. The only thing I need a "real" computer for is iTunes and photoshop elements.
I am looking into music streaming services so that may not be a problem soon. The Chromebooks come with 100GB of cloud storage for 2 years. If you buy the Pixel Chromebook by Google it is 1TB for 3 years.
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