Many people are still bouncing off myths about Chromebooks to undermine the value and power that they can give you. Let’s debunk some of these myths and tell you how much more useful a Chromebook can be. These are the five ways to use it that you didn’t think was possible.
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Use Microsoft Office
Chromebook still doesn’t support the full desktop version of Office, but you can still access Microsoft’s free and online versions of Office Online.
It features Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Online and these apps are even available in the Chrome Web Store. Using Office Online isn’t the same as using the full desktop version, but unless you’re an accountant, the online versions offer enough features to get the job done.
Granted that Office Online lacks the offline support that you’ll get with Google Docs, you can save your Office Online documents to OneDrive and access them via your other Microsoft devices.
Run Android Apps
Google is bringing together its Chrome and Android OS together, and the result has been promising so far. Google has found a way to make Android apps run on the Chrome OS, which means you can even use Skype on your Chromebook.
You can convert Android apps to run them on Chrome using the ARChon pack or you can directly install the Twerk app on your Chrome to convert APK files for direct installation. This feature is still being improved, but when Google perfects it, Chromebooks will be open to a whole new universe of Android software, which is not something Microsoft and Linux yet offer.
Work Offline
Contrary to popular belief, Chromebook offers you a lot of offline features and usability. You can read your Gmail, compose new messages, view Google Calendar, edit files in Google Drive and even download ebooks, music, videos, and PDFs for offline viewing. You can even install games that will run offline.
It’s true that many features on Chromebook are only available online, but that’s also true for Windows and Linux.
Use the Full Desktop OS
You can switch to the developer mode on your Chromebook and gain full access to its internals and even install a full desktop Linux system that runs side by side with your Chrome OS. You can use the Linux system to run desktop apps and use powerful terminal commands.
There are still a few things that a Chromebook can’t do, but that list is shrinking very quickly as Google’s serious about evolving the Chrome platform.
Edit Images with Adobe Photoshop
While it may not have been possible before, Google and Adobe recently made Photoshop available on Chrome OS as a streaming app.
The app’s Windows version will run on Adobe servers and from there, it’ll be streamed to your Chrome browser. Yes, it requires an internet connection, but there are great benefits to it because it can be a very demanding application.
When you run demanding functions, you’ll not be draining your battery or overworking your Chromebook processor because Adobe servers will take its load. It’s integrated with Google Drive which lets you keep track of your files as you work.
