Author: Cameron Summerson / Source: howtogeek.com
If you’re considering making the switch from a traditional PC (or Mac) to a Chromebook, you may be concerned about the transition. Not to worry—moving to a Chromebook is simple, and these tips will help ease the move.
First Things First: Is a Chromebook Right for You?
If you’re only considering making the jump over to a Chromebook, you may be curious whether a Chromebook is even feasible for you. Fortunately, we have a guide that can help you decide.
If you’re just looking for the nuts and bolts though, there are a few questions you can ask yourself:
- Do you need any proprietary Windows software? Take a day or two to analyze the way you use your current computer—really pay attention. There may be things so ingrained in your workflow that you don’t realize you use them.
- Do you live in the cloud? If you already rely on the cloud for most of your saved files and other data, then you’re well on your way to life with a Chromebook.
- Do you care about security? When it comes to computers, there are few consumer products out there more secure than an out-of-the-box Chromebook.
And really, that’s about it. Software is generally the biggest hurdle anyone has when it comes to making the switch, so if you don’t need to do any heavy lifting on the daily—photo or video editing, for example—then a Chromebook will probably be just fine.
Before You Switch: Move All of Your Important Files to Google Drive
The first thing you’ll want to do when making the jump over to a Chromebook is make all your files available across both platforms.
Regardless of whether you plan on using the Chromebook as your main system or a secondary setup, you’ll want to start using Google Drive as your main means of storage.If you’re going to deal with a two computer setup—like a Windows desktop and Chromebook, for example—Google Drive will keep all your stuff synced between the two computers. Keep in mind that you’ll likely have to purchase Google One storage to house all your files, but ultimate it becomes worth it. Not only are your files synced across computers this way, but you also get redundancy and backups. If you ever accidentally delete a file from Drive, you can easily go to the website and recover it.
Find Replacements for Your Favorite Apps
As long as you don’t need things like Photoshop or Premier for your daily work, the odds are you can find a viable web replacement on your Chromebook—you just may need to do a little searching. Here are a few suggestions to you get you started:
- Photo Editing: When it comes to quick edits on Chromebooks, there are two standout options: Pixlr Editor and Polarr. Both are web-based and very powerful for what they are. They won’t replace Photoshop for most people, but they’re definitely good for quick edits.
- Office: If you’re not a Microsoft Office power user, then Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides should do the trick. And since it’s part of Drive, these files will be accessible everywhere. And if you do still need to use Office apps, you can always use the online or Android app versions.
- Lists and Note Taking: For keeping things synced across devices and readily accessible, Google Keep is where it’s at. If you’re looking for something a little more powerful, however, Evernote is also a good choice.
- Calendar: This one is pretty straightforward: just use Google Calendar.
- Email: Gmail.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for on the web, most Chromebooks now run Android apps as well. That opens a vast ecosystem of apps, tools, and games to Chrome OS users that wasn’t there…
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