At the bottom of the screen, the new Chrome OS features a Windows-style taskbar for pinning favorite apps, accessing a list of all your apps, and a system status area off to the right. You can also change the background image and customize the app launcher with the new Chrome OS look.
Chromebooks are apparently finding at least a small user base with schools looking to distribute cheap PCs to students, but Google’s Web-centric laptops have not caught on with regular users in any significant way.
At first glance, Chrome OS makes a lot of sense for almost anyone looking for a secondary PC. The average person uses their computer largely to get online and check e-mail, update Facebook, watch videos, and create the odd document. Chrome OS can handle all of these tasks and Google is promising more enhancements such as offline Google Docs editing in the coming weeks.
As PCWorld’s Jason Cross pointed out in his first Chromebook Series 5 review, finding Chrome OS alternatives to powerful desktop apps can often feel like a hunt for workarounds. Until Chrome OS can solve that fundamental problem, Google may have a hard time winning over users. Even with its new desktop feel.
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