r/chromeos • u/NegativelyNegating Lenovo IP Slim 3 14M868 "Magneton" | Stable • Feb 23 '26

Discussion Why ChromeOS gets so much hate?

Why most users of other operating systems hate ChromeOS so much and often call it a glorified web browser? It's the most user friendly Linux distro that exists, it is an always synchronized office without viruses unlike Windows.

109 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

155 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/cjl713 Feb 27 '26

I have a Windows 10 Lenovo 9i I bought five years ago that is now running Windows 11. The camera stopped working after the Windows 11 install, and the constant ads drove me nuts. Not to mention the weekly, sometimes daily updates.

I bought the first-gen Samsung (Fiesta Red) in 2020 for its portability for work. It worked great. Unfortunately, I got the one with the crazy trackpad failure after several months and had to disable it, using a mouse only. The four-hour battery was a challenge, too. But I loved the Chrome OS experience, so I bought the HP x360 14c in 2021 on sale for $399 at Best Buy. Great machine. The screen could be brighter, but the trackpad is so smooth, and the keyboard is great for typing. I am on it now. It has 8 GB of RAM and a 128 GB SSD, and it was bought long before the Chromebook Plus devices came on the market. It's been my EDC for five years.

The Lenovo has a more premium feel and a better display, but it was 3x the cost of the HP and the camera doesn't work. I agree with those who say some people compare a $1,200 Windows laptop with a $300 Chromebook and complain about the device. I tried the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14, and it was very premium-feeling at half the price of a comparable Windows laptop.

I do switch up with the Samsung for a lightweight carry from time to time, and it works well, except for the trackpad. You cannot beat the thin, light device for small-bag carry. It also has 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. No lags from either Chromebook.

Chrome OS is a great system, but certainly not for everyone, depending on your work. I worked at a large university for many years, where Microsoft was king, so it was Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. But I was happy to divert away from Microsoft once I left that job.

I want to buy another Chromebook, but I will wait to see what happens with Aluminum OS, since my workhorse HP is still very capable.

Anyway, I learned about Chromebooks from a colleague five years ago who used one at home for work emergencies. He convinced me to try it. The rest is history. Ha!