Thoughts on Windows 10S

So today Microsoft announced a new version of Windows 10, Windows 10S (the S stands for a few things, but also school). This is their new attack on Chromebooks and a way for them to try and get back into the education market, which has become dominated by Chrome OS devices.

Now I said before, I was a Windows guy. I loved Windows. I really felt like Windows 8 was going to change the direction of computing. But then I realized, Windows is still Windows. It didn't matter if it was Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10, Windows was going to have the same problems.

So what is Windows 10S? It is a stripped down version of Windows that allows for apps to be added only through the Windows App Store. So no downloading of programs here. Sound familiar? It should.

Here are my initial reactions to today's announcements;

• If you can upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for $49, then Windows 10S isn't really "light weight". A pro version of Windows 10 is in there, in the background.
• How will Windows 10S run on "low end machines"? Chrome OS is nice because it just needs a Celeron processor and 4GB of RAM and you are good to go. Windows is a notorious resource hog. 
• Why did they announce the Surface Laptop today? Windows 10S is supposed to compete with Chrome OS, so why show off a $999 laptop that runs it? Sure Google had the Pixel, but that was only released after people got used to Chrome OS and could really use a high end machine. Windows 10S is untested.
• A free year of Minecraft & Office 365...ok what's the pricing after? So schools are going to be burdened with the cost of maintaining these programs versus the free GAFE. 
• Microsoft has a long way to go to master the whole collaboration thing within Office. Students are getting used to sharing documents and working on them together in real time. 
• I didn't see anything mentioned about Microsoft Classroom or anything else that makes current GAFE schools make the switch. 
• What will the low end laptops look like after 1-3 years? I have had my class set for 3 years now and use them daily. They are still as fast as they were day 1. I have had 2 broken screens & 2 keys pop off of 2 machines. How will the Windows 10S machine hold up? Will they still be fast 2 years later? 4 years later? Or will the background resources finally clog them up and slow them down?
• It only runs Edge for a browser. That means lack of extensions. I have so many extensions on my Chrome OS log in that it makes Chrome OS function more like a full OS. Those extensions are no where to be found in Edge.

Those are some of my gut reactions reading and watching the announcements today. For me, I was hoping for more classroom announcements, but I guess that will have to wait. 

As for me, I'm not changing anything. I am sticking to Chrome OS. I don't see any reason to make the switch back to Windows. 

And the winner is....

...Chrome OS of course. Was there any doubt? The only reason I am writing this is because I realized that this blog was started 3 years ago to see if Chrome OS could replace Windows for me and it does. Heck I knew that 2 years and 10 months ago. Now this is a long post, but I felt it was a good time to sum it all up.

So before everyone starts telling me I hate Windows & Apple, let me clear some things up. First, I do hate Apple :-) not because they make junk. They make solid devices. I think they are over-priced, especially when they went to an Intel processor and still charged a ton. I also don't like the fact they lock down their devices so much. I like a little freedom and the ability to make it my own unique device. 

As far as Windows goes, back in 2012 I was a total Windows nut. I read all about the Windows 8 preview builds and was excited for what they were offering. I even went as far as to partition my hard drive and install the preview build on my work laptop. In fact, in 2012 this blog would have been called Windows 8 Challenge. It was exciting to see a new Windows. Add onto the fact they were promising one log in across all devices that would sync apps & data was mind blowing at the time. I couldn't imagine logging into a Windows tablet and having all my work apps & data there right away. I was such a Windows fan I was considering dumping my Android phone for a Windows 8 phone. 

At this time our work actually had a Chromebook on the campus, the Samsung Series 3. I remember looking at it thinking, it's just a browser. What can it do? It did boot fast, our laptops were taking minutes (5+ to boot), but web-based apps really weren't a thing in 2012. And all of the apps in the Chrome web store looked like links to websites. I was disappointed and kept my eyes on Windows 8. 

I never made the switch though. I saw that while Windows 8 was great for touch devices, on my work desktop it was difficult to operate with a mouse and keyboard, not impossible, but a lot of unnecessary clicks. And plus let's face it Windows is always going to be Windows. 

So when Windows 10 was getting hyped, I never looked into it. I installed it on my laptop, but that was at the beginning of my challenge and I couldn't deal with the long boot times, Cortana popping up randomly and Edge being a browser but not really cause it didn't work on some websites. 

Chrome OS delivered on all the promises of Windows 8. I can log into any Android phone, Chrome OS device or even a Chrome browser on Windows or Mac OS and have access to all of my files and settings. Flash drives are a thing of the past for me. Worrying about whether or not my file saved is a thing of the past. Chrome OS just works and it does it well. It doesn't run everything, but with Chrome Remote desktop you have access to your regular computer. My wife had a to use a specific program for her doctorate program and needed it for class. She didn't have it installed on her laptop because the program was for one computer only. So what did she do? Install CRD and use her computer through her HP Chromebook at school. 

Windows tried to downplay Chromebooks and Chrome OS, but now they see the gains, especially in the education market, and are trying to play catch up. Microsoft introduced One Drive, real-time collaborating on Word, Microsoft Quizzes, and Microsoft Classroom. Sound familiar? Google Drive, Docs, Google Form Quizzes, and Google Classroom. Microsoft is so busy playing catch up, that they aren't innovative. Google is still releasing new products to help out students & educators. 

Computers are changing. The need for super powerful computers with tons of storage aren't necessary anymore and wen-based apps are improving daily. Chrome OS can do everything I need from a computer and I would be willing to bet it would work for you too.

Review Dell Chromebook 13 (i3 & touchscreen)

So here is a look at my 2nd high end model Chromebook I recently bought. I was really impressed with the HP Chromebook 13 and really thought of it as a real laptop replacement for teachers. The only concern that has come up since then is that it is so thin, could it be damaged easily? I don't know about that, but if that is your concern for a Chromebook and you still want high end, then the Dell 13 is probably for you.

It was made specifically for business users. And because of that the build is a little beefier. It feels more solid. Where as the HP was just a beautiful machine in terms of design, screen, and weight, the Dell 13 sacrifices some of that weight in favor of a more solid build. This thing can take a beating. It feels solid in the hands, but not too heavy. The keyboard is back-lit and spill resistant. And speaking of keyboards, man is this thing a pleasure to type on. I used to read reviews about great keyboards and it never really meant anything to me, but after typing on the Dell keyboard (and HP) a good keyboard goes a long way.

The top of the Chromebook has a sort of rubberized material on it that I am sure will hold up against scuffs and scratches. It also makes the laptop easier to hold onto and grip. The screen is gorgeous. Is it better than the HP? Probably not, but it definitely holds its own. Everything looks so good on it. Going split screen isn't a problem either as the 13.3 inch screen is plenty large for this mode.

It is definitely thicker than the HP Chromebook, but still thinner than my work laptop. Not to bash on Windows but when was turning on my new work laptop for pictures, it had one of those "we ran into some problems and need to restart your computer". Nice. 1 day old. 

Battery life is awesome as well. I have charged it one time and haven't needed to recharge it yet. Obviously I haven't done a lot of work on it, but still as of right now I have 81% battery left and 10 hours of time left. Amazing.

Oh yes, the elephant in the room...touchscreen. I went with a touchscreen model because as you know Android apps will soon make their way to Chrome OS and I thought touch might be helpful. Since I have had the laptop, I don't really find myself using touch that often. Part of that reason is that the trackpad is perfect. It is made of glass and responds perfectly to every touch. I have had or used about 9 laptops on my lifetime and this one is hands down the best. So in terms of keyboard and trackpad combo, I don't think I have ran across one that is this well put together. So touchscreen isn't a make or break. It is a nice addition, but as of right now, not a necessity.

So how to does the i3 compare to the m3 of the HP? Well on the Octane benchmark, the HP was around mid 22,000's - low 23,000s. The Dell's i3 is usually in the mid to high 19,000's. I have ran the test a few times and haven't seen it crack 20,000 yet. Am I saying it is slow? Definitely not. Still boots in under 8 seconds and flies on everything I throw at it. My i3 Chromebox scored in the 15,000s so it is definitely an improvement.

Overall, it is easily one of the best Chromebooks out there. If you were looking to buy one, I am sure you could get away with getting the Celeron version with no touch. Everything else is standard, keyboard/trackpad & screen are the same on every model. I am curious to see how the touch screen plays out, but definitely impressed and happy with this machine.

The Learning Curve Part 3 - Apps & Extensions

As I mentioned in the last post, part of making a transition from one OS to a new one is making it as smooth as possible. Most people are going to be clicking around trying to open up programs or trying to figure out how to install programs. One of the benefits is that Chrome OS doesn't run any traditionally installed programs except the Chrome browser, because of this Chrome OS devices are faster and more secure. But people will want to have something that does something similar to traditional programs. That's where apps come in.

Most of the apps that run on Chrome OS are web apps. In other words, shortcuts to webpages that do the work. There are a few that run outside of the Chrome browser, but most of the more powerful ones are web based. Extensions for the Chrome browser are the other tools that will help make the transition go more smoothly. 

Once again in the second half of 2016, the entire Android Play Store will become available to Chrome OS. When that happens ever most of these suggestions won't be as necessary. Because there is a Photoshop app for Android. There are also better versions of Office on Android then on their Office web apps. It is something that will definitely need to be revisited once that happens. 

This list of apps and extensions will be what I have found to be useful for teachers. I am sure that others will come out in comments later.

• Office 365 Mail Checker: a great extension if you are still locked into Outlook for emails. Notifies you with an email near the address bar and also one in the bottom tray. Chrome doesn't even need to be open to get the notification.

• Checker Plus for Gmail: if you happen to have Gmail as your main email, this is a must. Another extension that allows you to get email notifications and even respond without having to open up Gmail. 

• Cloud Convert: one of the best all around file converters out there. If you don't like the way Google Drive's built in converter works, you can always try this one. I usually use it to convert pdfs to jpgs. Also integrates well with Google Drive.

• Pixlr: Doesn't need an introduction probably if you have researched Chromebooks before. Pixlr is a solid photo editor. It's not Photoshop, but if you need Photoshop on a regular basis you won't be buying a Chromebook.

• Nimbus Screenshot: taking screenshots of pages is very important for educators. This used to belong to Snagit, but they are discontinuing their Chrome extension, but this one is just as good. Another good screenshot extension is Fireshot. I actually use them interchangeably. 

• Save to Google Drive: an unknown extension that is a must when you transfer into Chrome OS. This extension allows you to save any page, picture, or document directly to your Google Drive with one click. 

• Google Keep: This extension is useful if you have started using Google Keep. Similar to some of the other extensions like Share to Classroom or Save to Google Drive, this app takes any webpage that you are on and shares it to Google Keep. This is useful because if you are putting together resources for students, but want to look at them in more detail later, you can save them to Keep and have them waiting for you at a later time.

• Share to Classroom: For teachers using Google Classroom, this extension adds a share button. When you see a website you want to share, just click it and it will go to the class you want to share it with.

• Office Editing for Docs, Sheets, & Slides: This is another must. This extension allows you to edit Office documents in Google Drive. Enough said.

• PDF Escape: In a perfect world, pdfs would be naturally editable, but they aren't. If you were to search PDF editors on the chrome web store, most aren't that highly rated. It is difficult to edit a pdf file. PDF Escape is an app that does a very good job of allowing you to open and edit directly into the pdf and save it. There are a ton of PDF apps out there and this is probably my favorite.

• HP Print for Chrome: talked about this in the printing post. A must if you have an HP printer.

Those are some of my must have apps to help make that transition from Windows to Chrome OS a lot smoother. If you have any other apps you want to share go ahead and list them below.

The Learning Curve Part 1 - What about Office?

Ok so let's say you have been following my journey and have decided to take the plunge on going all in on Google. So you buy that new Chrome OS device and now you have to work through the dreaded learning curve. We all know it exists. Whether it be going from Windows 7 to Windows 8, Windows 7 to Windows 10, or even from Office 2012 to Office 2014. It doesn't matter when technology changes, there it is the learning curve. What do you need to do to be successful in the transition?



I have been exclusively Chrome OS for over a year now, so I have already gone through the curve. I also have two colleagues that I convinced to go Chrome OS this year and have helped them through their curve as well. They were both surprised that there wasn't much of a curve at all. Why? Well, the answer is simple. Most of the work of Chrome OS is done within a browser. It doesn't matter if you run Windows or MacOS, you use a browser. And chances are it is Google's Chrome browser. So you already feel comfortable when you turn it on.

Now, the number one thing everyone that has made the transition from Windows to Chrome OS is how to deal with Office Documents. Now while I was transitioning over from Windows to Chrome OS, I did a little research and found an extension called Office Editing for Docs, Sheets, and Slides. What this extension does is allow you to open an Office document in Google Drive, edit it, and save it as an Office document. You never have to change it over to a Google Doc if you choose not to.

After I installed that on my account and my colleagues, that helped out. But in reality, it wasn't perfect. Which leads us to the biggest issue about Office documents, formatting. Google Docs is about 97-99% accurate when converting Office to Google and I will say that that number is pretty accurate. When it becomes a problem is when there is a lot of formatting on the Office document. Then when it converts to a Google Doc, there will be some formatting that needs to be done on your part.

But here in lies my point, with every transition there needs to be some front end work put into it. When teachers got computers, there was a lot of work done to put together those power point presentations, worksheets in Word, or even tests in Word. But education changes. If you are still using the same power point from 5 years ago, maybe it is time you update it. And that is what I would tell those teachers that will complain about having to change and do work on their lectures.

Other issues with Office I have noticed, there is no smooth way to add in music into a Google Slide. Also, there is no way to easily add a watermark to a Google Doc.

Office is the one thing that people will say stops them from moving to Chrome OS. I am hear to tell you that the main issue you will run into is formatting. My recommendation is to convert it all in to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides and go from there. Just know going in there will be some formatting that will need to take place eventually if you go from Office to Chrome OS. Once again, if you are using the same powerpoint for years and years, there are bigger problems that you need to tackle.

Next time we will talk about printing.

The Perfect Solution?

I think it is no surprise that I think our school site should move away from Windows and towards Google & Chrome OS. I also have felt that a Chromebox is the ultimate device for teachers. I have documented my own journey, on this blog, from ditching Windows completely and going all in with a Chromebox this year.

But even though the beauty in Chrome OS is to be able to access your files & work anywhere you have a Chrome browser, some people still want a dedicated laptop. And here is where the struggle begins. You have a certain number of teachers who will never embrace a laptop. The keyboard is smaller, there is no dedicated numeric keypad, screen is too small, etc. And you will have another side that will argue that they need something mobile, so they can take it where ever they go.

I have found a solution that makes both people happy. Unfortunately, this pushes the old budget, but keeps it under $1000 a teacher, which is what I have heard our last laptops cost. My solution is to get a Chromebook that allows for a docking station, like the new HP Chromebook 13 G1.

It is one of the best Chromebooks on the market today, if not the best. I would recommend getting the m3 processor, so that initial cost of the Chromebook is $600. Definitely on the high end. But if you get every teacher the docking station that comes with it, for $150, then you have just turned the laptop into a desktop.

So Chromebook and docking station gets you to $750. You can easily find a monitor, mouse, & Chrome OS keyboard for less that $250. I would guess this set up would be around $900. But you actually now have two devices, a Chromebook (top of the line) & a desktop.

Now I know you might be thinking, just plug in an HDMI cable to it and you are good to go, why waste the extra money on a docking station. The docking station has a lot more going for it. More usb ports, ethernet connection, and 2 display ports. I used a Chromebook last year hooked up via HDMI and it worked, but this seems like a more powerful solution.

Also, why HP? Honestly, I think most Chromebooks are the same. I don't get impressed with shiny designs or other cool things. I care about specs. This is nice because it works with a Chromebook. They are made to go hand in hand. 

Now, the Dell Chromebook 13 is also another Chromebook that could work in this case, 

It is a great solid Chromebook as well. It has the option for a touchscreen for $629. So price range is very similar to the HP Chromebook with no touch. Dell doesn't make a docking station, but Plugable recently announced they have a docking station that works with Chromebooks, right now Dell is the only one, but more are coming.

Their docking station is $100, so the combined cost with a touch screen Chromebook is actually cheaper than the HP. It comes with more usb ports and has a DVI output, which is more compatible with most monitors. The only downside is that this won't charge the device when it is plugged in like the HP will.

But two solutions that gives everyone what they want.

A Look Back at the Year

So a full year is in the books for using a Chrome OS device and I have to say, I didn't miss Windows at all, I did load Windows 10 & Remix OS on my old laptop though. My postings have been far and few between because I have been super busy. I had a student teacher 2nd semester. He did a good job and didn't require too much over seeing, but when I get a student teacher I find myself helping out around the campus with technology issues.

So what did I get done this year? Well first up was AP Qualifications. I have a colleague who has to pour through about 200 applications and see if they qualify. I asked him what he was looking for and he said just grades. So I took his application and turned it into a Google Form. I found a way for the Custom Formatting to search for the unqualified grades and highlight them in red and then highlight their names so they would be flagged out. Then to top it off I had a second tab for his acceptance list. I had to run an add-on to sort by color and then pull that data to another sheet. Well once I showed his dean, she asked me to do it for the rest of her department. So I did and I think that will streamline the AP applications next year.

His dean is in charge of AP testing so she had to put together the master AP list. It was easy once I got everything into a Sheet it was easy to manipulate the data. So what I have planned for next year is for the AP qualification lists to be automatically pulled from the AP applications qualifying tab. So in theory, once they close the application everything will be done, acceptance & master list. Big shout out to Alice Keeler who is 100% right when she says "The Answer is Always a Spreadsheet".

After she saw this she asked me to help with an AP/IB registration form. Students will complete a form where they input their AP schedule. It will identify any types of conflicts (by flagging them in the Sheet) and using FormMule email the students their AP schedules...if our district would open up student email access. It will also have necessary papers to qualify for fee reduction & help identify students that might be in CIF playoffs when testing rolls around.

I also work on a Staff Resource Doc that I saw from CUE. Basically, on one Doc it has everything ever needed for a staff member. I set it up so that certain things will require staff to make a copy first, like our warehouse order form. And of course it is set up to automatically add up the total cost for the teacher.

Also made another Form for requesting set up in the auditorium. Staff fills it out and once again thanks to FormMule a nice email is sent to the custodians as to what needs to be set up.

And finally, I have been trying to convince our admin to seriously look at buying Chrome OS devices for our next upgrade.

And as I look back I realize that most of this, if not all of it, would not have happened if I didn't have a Chromebox. It pushed me into a direction to use GAFE more. And when you start using it you realize just how useful & powerful it is.  And I think that is the big picture of using a Chrome OS device.

Printing from Chrome OS just got easier

One of the main drawbacks of Chrome OS is the lack of a solid printing option. Even though I am running a paperless class now, I still have to print gradebooks, letters of rec, and other reports. So in able to do this I have to make sure my work printer is on and run Google Cloud Printing through it, basically turning it into a printer server. It works. Everytime it works. The problem lies within Windows. I turned on my laptop to print out something and I had to sit and wait about 20 minutes for it to load an update and restart...20 minutes wasted time.

So how has it improved? Today I found an app for Chrome OS called HP Print for Chrome. This makes printing fast and simple. All you need to do is locate the IP address for the printer and type it in. It doesn't have to be a cloud ready printer or anything like that. I use 2 HP printers, they are different models and this app works for both of them. If you don't have an HP printer, then you are out of luck until that printer manufacturer decides to make an app too. I think this is better than waiting on Google to move their Cloud Printing out of beta.

As of today, my Windows laptop is turning off and I don't see a reason why I will be turning it on for the rest of the year. And this really strengthens my case for our school to adapt a Chrome OS devices as our next computer.

Chrome OS to the rescue...again

Been awhile since I posted something, so I will share a quick story of how Chrome OS saved a teacher's day. A teacher came in and told me he had a problem. Turns out he left laptop at home and had no device for the day. On top of that, he had a PowerPoint Presentation planned for his classes that day. I told him I could loan him an extra Chromebook from my class set. Since attendance is web-based now, he could take roll.

As far as his PowerPoint, last year he moved his documents to Google Drive after his laptop crashed. I told him you could get to them anywhere so he did it. Since he had his PowerPoint on his drive, we hooked the Chromebook up to his projector and ran the presentation like normal. The slides in the PowerPoint were off centered, so we did a quick conversion to Google Slides and it looked perfect. After school, he came up to me and said everything worked perfectly and thanks for the help. But without him moving his documents to Google Drive none of this would have worked.

I have been trying for 2 years now to have our staff move to Google Drive and this is another example why. Heck, it's a great example to move away from old Windows based laptops to Chrome OS devices for the school.

Amusing Tale of Chrome OS vs. Windows

So by now you have figured out I love Chrome OS & my Chromebox for work. I only have my work laptop out to use as a server when I need to print. So here is a nice little story from this morning I thought I would share.

I needed to print something out for a meeting this morning. It was on my personal drive. I went on my Chromebox, logged in under my personal account, and went to my drive. So I logged into my laptop so it would be awake for printing. As my laptop was logging in I realized that I don't have my work printers on my personal account. So I simply shared it to my work Google account. I figured that I would avoid cloud print and print straight from my laptop.

After I shared it, I went to my work laptop and waited for me to be able to launch Chrome. And I waited & waited some more. Then I decided to just switch users on my Chromebox. In the time it took me to switch users on my Chromebox, log into my work Drive, and print it, my work laptop had just opened up Drive.

I just shook my head and got my copies for the meeting. I am amazed at how fast Chrome OS is compared to a 3 year old laptop. I am still hoping someone at the district office figures out Chrome OS is a better fit for the school than a Windows based machine, but only time will tell on that one.

Haunted by Windows

If you read this blog you know 3 things; 1) I bought a Chromebox for work because I was so impressed with using just a Chromebook for the last 7 weeks of school &summer school. 2) our school has no cloud enabled printers so I have to still use my old laptop as a server.  3) my laptop got stuck in a boot loop on the last day of school and had to be re-imaged over the summer.

I got my laptop back today and it was back to factory default basically. All my programs were gone and my printers were gone too. So I know how to install printers, it is about a 5-10 minute job. I had the drivers on a flash drive just in case.

And that's when problems started. I plugged the flash drive into 3 different USB ports and each time a warning came up saying it didn't recognize the device. Finally for some reason on the 3rd time to a USB port it worked. So as I clicked on the drive to install the drivers, the "updates need to be completed" box popped up and I had to click it away. It took my computer 10 minutes to install the drivers. Then came the printers.

I had the IP addresses, so no need to search just put in the IP address and go. Well then it took about 15 minutes for it to contact the printer and another 12 to query it for the driver and install it. When it was all said and done it took my over 45 minutes to install one printer.

Every time I wanted to do something it would take multiple clicks to get it to register. Signing into chrome was a pain as well. Everything was horribly slow. It was almost  like Windows was taunting me saying "oh you aren't going to use me? Well I'll make your life hell for it!"

I'm not going to miss Windows. Now I need to get some cloud enabled printers on this campus so I can unplug my laptop for good.

11:03.28

11:03.28...what is that you ask? That is the amount of time it took one of our school's new Lenovo Yoga 11e computers to restart today in class. A teacher next to me was giving his first test on Socrative, so I wanted to help him out. The Chromebooks were checked out, so he got to use the brand new Yogas.  They looked nice, but running Windows 8.1 worried me because of speed issues and let's face it, a Windows pc isn't starting up in 8 seconds.

So they were passed out and students logged in. Maybe its from having Chromebooks, but that little dotted circle spun for a long time before the desktop showed up. They clicked on Chrome and another few seconds it popped up. The whole process was less than I feared, but definitely longer than a Chromebook. 

A few had some issues 2 stalled on the sign in, desktop never loaded and one gave a "critical error" message and was shut down. I looked at the one where the desktop never loaded and tried to fix it. I hit the Windows key and nothing, no metro, no desktop. I pulled up the task manager and it said no programs were running. So finally I restarted it.  I decided to time it just to compare it to a Chromebook.  Total time for it to get back to the log in screen, 11:03.28 seconds. 

The class is small, so he had extras, but what if there were none? Do teachers have 11 minutes to sit and stare at a dotted circle spinning? I think we all know the answer to that question.  Makes me glad that I have a class set of Chromebooks & not a Windows based OS.

Chromebook Challenge: Week 4 Update

Another successful week using a Chromebook only.  I brought in a USB mouse from home to make life a little easier versus a trackpad.  Nothing wrong with it, just more comfortable using a mouse.  If we went with the Chromebox with USB mouse & keyboard, that wouldn't be an issue. I don't have much to add to what we already know about using Chrome OS, it's fast & it works.  The other teacher that started using a Chromebook still does for everything except his PowerPoint presentations.

I had been using Fireshot extension for screenshots, but have been using Snagit, and it seems to be a little better.  Mainly, it allows me to do some basic editing right away, instead of opening up Pixlr.  I wish it would have the ability to erase things on the screen, but it does allow for adding in text & shapes.  So that is something that Fireshot doesn't do.

I can honestly say that switching to a Chromebook has made my life a lot less frustrating.  I had to use my computer this week to go to a site that was blocked on the Chromebook, device restrictions again.  The delay in logging in, the delay in opening the browser...just so much.  Once again, when teachers need to do something, we want speed.  We don't have time to stare at a screen and wait for something to happen.  We want to click on something and have it react right away.

It has helped me connect with the students and their devices.  We are all using the same thing now.  So I know exactly how it looks on their devices.  I know how the apps & extensions operate and problems that come up.  Being on the same operating system makes sense and benefits everyone.

That's all I have for this week.  I just have to re-emphasize that if you have considered moving to Chrome OS, do it.  Totally worth it.

Windows is still Windows

Everyone is looking to make a "Chromebook killer" laptop and lately, Microsoft has been pushing to make less expensive laptops to directly compete with Chrome OS in schools. On the surface it seems like a good idea. Most schools are comfortable with Windows and some might want to continue using Windows machines since everything is in place from a technical standpoint. And let's face it, it is a full OS that can install programs on it and has more flexibility. But is it worth it to go to a cheaper Windows laptop over a Chrome OS device?  Once again this is a factual post no opinions here.  This is a look at Windows devices for student use, not for teachers/administrators.  Although, I am pretty open about that as well.

Don't get me wrong I like Windows.  I have a Windows PC running at my house as my htpc streaming shows and using Windows Media Center to watch and record TV. I have Windows 10 technical preview running as well. It look nice and does bring some additions to Windows, but that isn't coming til summer. 

Windows is still Windows. Windows still slows down over time because of the amount of files it accumulates over the life of the machine. Windows will keep certain programs running in the background, so that when you open the program it will load faster.  By keeping those programs running in the background, your machine is using more RAM. Open up the App Data folder on most Windows machines and you will probably be shocked at the size of the folder.  After a few years from all the files it has saved, the folder is gigabytes in size. You can always reformat them or reimage them, but that takes time, sometimes a week or more.

Although Chrome OS is a relatively young operating system, it does seem to buck the trend of slowing down. People who received the first Chromebooks in 2011 are still using them. Part of the reason is that Chrome OS is basically a glorified browser. It has one job to do and it does it well. It doesn't need top of the line specs to do its job.

Windows is still Windows. Although 8.1 & 10 aren't the resource hogs of the past, you will still want to run it on decent hardware. Usually, people are looking for an i3 processor with at least 4 GB of RAM. Well, most of the Windows machines geared towards education have 2 GB of RAM and an older Baytrail processor. That is the bare minimum needed to run Windows. After you install some programs you will quickly see that those 2 GB aren't going to be enough to do simple tasks quickly. Eventually, there will be a delay in opening a program and it actually being able to use it because of the older processor.

Once again since Chrome OS runs everything in a browser, you don't need high end specs.  The latest celeron processor and 2 GB of ram is more than enough.

Windows is still Windows. It is easy to install malware and malicious programs on the machines. It is easier to accidentally download a file that can absolutely wreck havoc on your machine. Since you can't install programs on Chrome OS, the chances of obtaining malware decreases exponentially.

Windows is still Windows. How many times have you gone to shut down your device and an update keeps spinning for minutes?  How long does it take to restart a machine and get it back to the desktop? How many times has a device froze as you are trying to open a program? When you are doing a lesson, you don't have time to deal with machines needing to restart or freezing.  If there are any issues with Chrome, wifi, trackpad, etc., just restart it.  Chrome OS devices start in under 10 seconds and you are on the desktop.

In the end, schools will be lured in by the cheaper cost versus a traditional laptop or even a Chromebook. But the price doesn't match the functionality. You can run GAFE on both machines, but coming from someone who has used both, GAFE works better in Chrome OS, as it should. The entire OS is built around the browser. Just like Internet Explorer (and Spartan) work better in Windows.

Windows is useful for certain things, but mass education devices isn't one of them.