Hey, guys! I'm Bill from GCFLearnFree.org and
today we're going to be taking a look at Chromebooks. Now, you might have heard of a
Chromebook before, you might not, but
either way if you're thinking about buying a new computer
a Chromebook might be a really good low-cost alternative to a traditional
laptop. Now, unlike normal computers which use the Windows or Mac operating systems.
a Chromebook uses Chrome OS, which is based on the Google Chrome web browser.
That means you can use a Chromebook to do just about everything you do in a
normal web browser,
like checking your email, Facebook watching videos,
creating simple documents and a whole lot more. This is actually a Chromebook
right behind me. It has a screen, keyboard and touchpad just like a
regular laptop.
It's pretty thin, pretty light. It's got most of your basic ports like
headphones, HDMI, USB, USB again over here.
That might vary based on what Chromebook you buy but
more about that later. Let's take a look at the basics and use in the Chromebook interface.
This is the Chromebook desktop and it might look pretty familiar to the desktop
of a regular Windows or Mac computer if you've ever used one before.
If you click this button in the lower-left corner you can open
any app on your Chromebook. For example, if wanted to create a new document
you can just click here. Whenever you open an application on a Chromebook
it will appear in a new browser tab. For example we wanted to look at
Google Maps you'll see that it's opened in new tab here.
so we have two tabs: one for maps and one for our docs.
You can also use a Chromebook just like a regular web browser.
Create a new tab and use it to get it any webpage you want.
If you want to install new software on your Chromebook, just go to the Chrome Web Store.
Now it's important to note that you won't find traditional PC software here
such as Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop.
Because the Chromebook uses Chrome OS, you can't install traditional software
that you might already own. Still there are a lot of great applications here and many of them
are free.
OK, so those are just the absolute basics of using a Chromebook but
I hope this video has been helpful in showing you what a Chromebook can and can't do.
if you're thinking about buying a Chromebook, I'd invite you just to take some time
and think about your needs as a computer user. A five or six hundred dollar
laptop may actually do much more than you need and
I think for a lot of people, a Chromebook would make a really great alternative.
On the other hand if you need access to very specific Windows or Mac software,
a Chromebook just might not cut it for you. Anyway I hope this video has been helpful for you.
Check out our Chromebooks lesson for even more information.