I still like ChromeOS but I also like my new MacBook Air

MBA

Those who happen by this blog know that I like Google’s ChromeOS. I’ve got two Chromebooks, and have written a number of posts about ChromeOS. However, there are a handful of things that I need to do that I just can’t do well on a Chromebook. One of the main things is the ability to run Cisco’s WebEx software. Support for ChromeOS has been “coming” for a long time and given that I spend a lot of my day in WebEx meetings, this has been an annoyance. My employer (N2N Services) uses this as its standard, and I found myself sitting with a Chromebook and connected to the WebEx on my iPhone. Also, while Google Docs is great, roundtrip fidelity with Microsoft Office docs is still an issue. Microsoft’s online offerings are getting much better, but are not there yet.  I use KeePass for passwords, and there’s not a version that works with ChromeOS. FTP/SFTP are possible with web-based tools like NetFTP, but kludgy. SSH works with an app, but is kludgy. The Chrome shell is OK for a few things, but want to run cURL? Nope. Can’t run Skype. But, I love the quick boot & online or SSD storage, and the small light form factor. So, I decided to get a MacBook Air.

I’ve got an iMac at home so I’m quite conversant with OS X. But which Air to buy. Yes, I know that refresh time is coming up, but you can drive yourself crazy with that. I decided to get the entry level 11.6″ 4GB RAM/128GB SSD model. I was a bit concerned about the RAM, but after 24 hours of using this, I can say that this is one sweet laptop. The screen size is like my Chromebooks, so no issue there. Boot is very fast, but then again, I don’t boot my Macs often anyway, and return from sleep is instantaneous. Very nice build quality and keyboard. Beautiful screen, even if it’s not as hires as the 13″ MBA. I wondered if I’d regret not going with the 256GB SSD, but after loading everything I want, I still have 85GB or so free. I’ve not had any issues with the RAM, and honestly, I guess swapping to SSD is going to be pretty fast. The weight at 2.38 pounds is nice. The difference between 2.38 and 2.96 on the MBA 13″ is one of the main reasons I went with the MBA 11″.  I’m going to work hard to keep most stuff in the cloud and not on the MBA, and to not try to overload it with things like Xcode 😉 . There’s a sweet spot here with the MBA!

So, yes, I still like ChromeOS and think it’s a great solution for many things…but it’s just not quite flexible enough…yet…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *