Microsoft is Back on the Chromebook Warpath

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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Microsoft is back beating the Scroogle drum, dissing the Google Chromebook as a brick when not connected to the Internet. Last week, Microsoft enlisted the talents of the Pawn Stars personalities to tell how worthless the Chromebook is, so this week they are utilizing the talents of ‘Ben the PC Guy’ to spread the same message. What exactly Microsoft is so afraid of is the big mystery here.
 
How come these street interviewers never manage to run into an actual tech guy?

"Hi, this is a Chromebook."

"It's useless. Later."
 
Haha, as someone who does quite a bit a javascript coding, mostly with browser IDEs, I don't know if I would call them useless. Definitely limited in their functionality at factory settings though. Throw a linux distro on the acer c720 and you have a pretty decent $200 haswell laptop.

I will say this though, it is completely crap (and basically a paperweight) if you don't have a constant internet connection. And they make a good point in the commercial, a lot of people use Adobe software and Microsoft office on a daily basis.
 
Most private persons use openoffice or libreoffice instead of Microsoft Office as they're free and the user interface is ribbon free. Photoshop practically nobody owns legally, it's way too expensive for home users :)

Gimp is a PITA but it's free.
 
B00nie said:
Most private persons use openoffice or libreoffice instead of Microsoft Office as they're free and the user interface is ribbon free. Photoshop practically nobody owns legally, it's way too expensive for home users :)

Gimp is a PITA but it's free.
Click to expand...

I have never met a non-tech person that has even heard of open-office/Libre office. That and MSOffice is just so much more powerful and easier to use.

I agree with the sentiments of these adds. I do not see much usefulness in being so heavily dependent on web and internet based applications. Yeah these devices are cheap, but that is not a selling point for me. Maybe for someone who does not know that much about computers and just wants the cheapest thing possible. If they wanted something along these lines, I would probably point them towards a Surface RT which can at least run office.
 
Chrome books ARE useless.

Now pit a Nexus 10 against a Surface RT and see how that goes.

I'll never buy a fucking ARM based Windows tablet. I have a Surface RT. It's a doorstop. The app store is a wasteland of scam and shovel ware. Just search for "VLC" or "MKV" and see the fuckload of bogus apps from the same handful of scammers.

Now, the x86 tablets? Those are sweet. The Venu 8 Pro is awesome. I love it. Microsoft and Intel should focus on making x86 tablets continue to be awesome and get them down in price so they can go up against the budget ARM devices.
 
B00nie said:
Most private persons use openoffice or libreoffice instead of Microsoft Office as they're free and the user interface is ribbon free. Photoshop practically nobody owns legally, it's way too expensive for home users :)

Gimp is a PITA but it's free.
Click to expand...

LOL. 99% of the computer using public have no idea what those are. Sorry man. It's like back in the 90s when everyone was telling us how MSFT was dead and we'd all be running Linux on our desktops in a year at a time when we had to rebuild the kernel to get our SB 16s to work because the IRQ and IO ports were hard coded in a header file meanwhile MSFT was rolling out PnP.

Keep dreaming. :D
 
B00nie said:
Most private persons use openoffice or libreoffice instead of Microsoft Office as they're free and the user interface is ribbon free. Photoshop practically nobody owns legally, it's way too expensive for home users :)

Gimp is a PITA but it's free.
Click to expand...

My Point has already been made in a couple post's above... But yeah... Your Wrong..
 
ianken said:
I'll never buy a fucking ARM based Windows tablet. I have a Surface RT. It's a doorstop. The app store is a wasteland of scam and shovel ware. Just search for "VLC" or "MKV" and see the fuckload of bogus apps from the same handful of scammers.
Click to expand...

The real VLC should be out in the Windows Store soon. Initially though it will be only x86 compatible.

ianken said:
Now, the x86 tablets? Those are sweet. The Venu 8 Pro is awesome. I love it. Microsoft and Intel should focus on making x86 tablets continue to be awesome and get them down in price so they can go up against the budget ARM devices.
Click to expand...

This is already happening. The Windows device that the Chromebook is compared to in this is ad is the Asus T100 which is already pretty cheap and has seen some discounts this shopping season. I bet it's going to be one of the devices that Microsoft runs on special during is 12 days of Christmas sale.
 
ianken said:
LOL. 99% of the computer using public have no idea what those are. Sorry man. It's like back in the 90s when everyone was telling us how MSFT was dead and we'd all be running Linux on our desktops in a year at a time when we had to rebuild the kernel to get our SB 16s to work because the IRQ and IO ports were hard coded in a header file meanwhile MSFT was rolling out PnP.

Keep dreaming. :D
Click to expand...

Most of the public doesn't have to. Just set up a new laptop for a friend with no office license so I installed Libre office. He is perfectly happy using it now. I've been doing that much more recently for friends since they tend to "choke" on the price a little when I tell them how much an actual MS office license is, even with discounts. I think its a perception issue where a lot of non-techie people think office is just part of Windows and their surprised it doesn't, and then have to pay for it!
 
pcjunkie said:
Most of the public doesn't have to. Just set up a new laptop for a friend with no office license so I installed Libre office. He is perfectly happy using it now. I've been doing that much more recently for friends since they tend to "choke" on the price a little when I tell them how much an actual MS office license is, even with discounts. I think its a perception issue where a lot of non-techie people think office is just part of Windows and their surprised it doesn't, and then have to pay for it!
Click to expand...

There's a lot of different ways to get Office that are cheap. I got Office 2013 Pro for a couple of my in-laws for $10 a copy just by them using their work email accounts to get the deal. And now Home & Student comes on all of these cheap Bay Trail devices free.
 
ThatsAgood1jay said:
I have never met a non-tech person that has even heard of open-office/Libre office. That and MSOffice is just so much more powerful and easier to use.

I agree with the sentiments of these adds. I do not see much usefulness in being so heavily dependent on web and internet based applications. Yeah these devices are cheap, but that is not a selling point for me. Maybe for someone who does not know that much about computers and just wants the cheapest thing possible. If they wanted something along these lines, I would probably point them towards a Surface RT which can at least run office.
Click to expand...
open office isn't going to supplant excel anytime soon
 
ThatsAgood1jay said:
I have never met a non-tech person that has even heard of open-office/Libre office. That and MSOffice is just so much more powerful and easier to use.

I agree with the sentiments of these adds. I do not see much usefulness in being so heavily dependent on web and internet based applications. Yeah these devices are cheap, but that is not a selling point for me. Maybe for someone who does not know that much about computers and just wants the cheapest thing possible. If they wanted something along these lines, I would probably point them towards a Surface RT which can at least run office.
Click to expand...

The IT people at school here appear to be on an anti Microsoft warpath lately. More of the labs on campus are Mac only, and most of the PC's have openoffice now. Open office is a total POS and is why I just use my laptop with Office 2007. You should see how often the professors have problems when trying to do slides of documents on the in class projectors which no lomger have office. I fell in love with Word back during the Windows 3.0 days and later office because they are so powerful and easy to use.
 
heatlesssun said:
There's a lot of different ways to get Office that are cheap. I got Office 2013 Pro for a couple of my in-laws for $10 a copy just by them using their work email accounts to get the deal. And now Home & Student comes on all of these cheap Bay Trail devices free.
Click to expand...

Please enlighten me on how to get a $10 MS office license.
 
Fair enough, you can't use Google Docs offline, but "most" people work on a paper, report, ect in a wifi area. Students on campus have access to wifi everywhere- heck even the quads have wifi access. In the office, most businesses have wifi.
I've used OpenOffice and LibraOffice for quite a few years now. My job depends on me creating documents, spreadsheets and presentations and I've had few issues. Once you know where the weaknesses lie (basically when you need to send it to a person who only uses MS Office), you can overcome them. But I have found myself slowly shifting more and more to Google Docs.
Folks that refuse to get off MS Office cost the business because they require us to pay for MS Office and they put productivitly at risk since the product is stuck on a potentially faulty hard drive or flash drive.
 
Hmm...so you can't use Google docs offline, but the same was true with Office 365 and Adobe CC, so their comparison seems to be a bit of Apples vs Oranges. How useful is Office 365 or Adobe CC on a windows notebook with no wifi available, that would be more of a accurate comparison.
 
aquabusa said:
Folks that refuse to get off MS Office cost the business because they require us to pay for MS Office and they put productivitly at risk since the product is stuck on a potentially faulty hard drive or flash drive.
Click to expand...

It's not just a matter of refusing to get "off of MS Office". Office is a platform with a ton of 3rd party support with tons of add ons and deep integration it other products. If that a person does with Office isn't of value then sure, maybe other alternatives are better. But if your documents are of value then the cost of Office is nothing, it can pay for itself in a day. Ultimately that's why Office continues to do well with free alternatives available. The content that one uses and create with Office over time is far more valuable the cost of the software.

And as far as the software running locally, there is a web version of Office that's very much like Google Docs and one can switch back and forth between the web and client version as needed. And next up are the modern UI versions of the client tools.
 
MS originally intended for the XBone to be online only. So it's OK for them, but not OK for Chrome?
 
LurkerLito said:
Hmm...so you can't use Google docs offline, but the same was true with Office 365 and Adobe CC, so their comparison seems to be a bit of Apples vs Oranges. How useful is Office 365 or Adobe CC on a windows notebook with no wifi available, that would be more of a accurate comparison.
Click to expand...
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/business/microsoft-office-365-for-business-faq-FX103030232.aspx
Is Internet access required for Office 365?
Internet access is required to install and activate all Office 365 plans and to manage your subscription account. Internet connectivity is also required to access Office 365 cloud productivity services, including email, conferencing, IT management, and other services.
Many Office 365 plans also include the desktop version of Office, for example, Office 365 Small Business Premium and Office 365 Enterprise E3. One of the benefits of having the desktop version of Office applications is that you can work offline and have the confidence that the next time you connect to the Internet all your work will automatically sync, so you never have to worry about your documents being up to date. Your desktop version of Office is also automatically kept up to date and upgraded when you connect to the Internet, so you always have the latest tools to help you work. Compare Office 365 plans
Click to expand...
You can't use microsoft office web apps offline as that does require Internet connection. The web apps like google apps are weak sauce so why would you ever want to use them unless you had to use them, you don't have to use them unlike chromebook.
 
B00nie said:
Most private persons use openoffice or libreoffice instead of Microsoft Office as they're free and the user interface is ribbon free. Photoshop practically nobody owns legally, it's way too expensive for home users :)

Gimp is a PITA but it's free.
Click to expand...

Most private person most certainly do not use Open or Libre Office. Most consumers have never even heard of it. Most people activate their 60 day trial of Microsoft Office Home when it expires.
 
Azhar said:
Most private person most certainly do not use Open or Libre Office. Most consumers have never even heard of it. Most people activate their 60 day trial of Microsoft Office Home when it expires.
Click to expand...

He's just trolling. Really, ribbon free? That's now become a requirement for average users? LOL!:D
 
LurkerLito said:
Hmm...so you can't use Google docs offline, but the same was true with Office 365 and Adobe CC, so their comparison seems to be a bit of Apples vs Oranges. How useful is Office 365 or Adobe CC on a windows notebook with no wifi available, that would be more of a accurate comparison.
Click to expand...

There's Microsoft Office for offline as well as Office Web App for online. There ISN'T an offline version of Google Docs. Therein lies the differences.
 
Really dumb ad. Modern computers in general are bricks without an internet connection.
 
aquabusa said:
MS Office and they put productivitly at risk since the product is stuck on a potentially faulty hard drive or flash drive.
Click to expand...

You can save Office documents directly to Skydrive (Free and Pro) in 2013. Alternatively you can easily save documents into a Dropbox or Box.com folder which will sync to an online storage service. Faulty drives are not the fault of Microsoft nor Microsoft Office, but the users themselves. A company with a good IT department should train employees to save documents to sync folders. I have successfully persuaded my boss to make this a requirement for all employees. Malfunctioning laptops and computers will no longer be the cause of lost data. Only employee negligence.
 
Azhar said:
You can save Office documents directly to Skydrive (Free and Pro) in 2013. Alternatively you can easily save documents into a Dropbox or Box.com folder which will sync to an online storage service. Faulty drives are not the fault of Microsoft nor Microsoft Office, but the users themselves. A company with a good IT department should train employees to save documents to sync folders. I have successfully persuaded my boss to make this a requirement for all employees. Malfunctioning laptops and computers will no longer be the cause of lost data. Only employee negligence.
Click to expand...

Very true, but if the employees at your company are anything like the ones I work with, they need to lose files to learn the importance of backing it up. With Google Docs it saves on it's own, constantly. But even backing up using Dropbox requires and internet connection, so we are back to needing a internet connection- the very keystone of MS's arguement against the Chromebook.
Another comment pointed out that add-ons make the MS Office program well worth it. I'm not exactly sure what add-ons you are speaking of but most of the add-ons I liked on MS Office have substitues. For example, I use Daum Equation Editor as a Chrome App to make formulas and put them into text/presentations.
Ultimately, is it worth carrying around a Win8 laptop 100% of the time for options that you might use 5% of the time? Does that 5% even require MS Office or are there substitutes?
 
Cmdrmonkey said:
Really dumb ad. Modern computers in general are bricks without an internet connection.
Click to expand...

Perhaps if looking at Japanese fetish porn is what you primarily use a computer for. For most people whether gaming or doing work, there is tons to do offline.
 
aquabusa said:
Very true, but if the employees at your company are anything like the ones I work with, they need to lose files to learn the importance of backing it up. With Google Docs it saves on it's own, constantly. But even backing up using Dropbox requires and internet connection, so we are back to needing a internet connection- the very keystone of MS's arguement against the Chromebook.
Another comment pointed out that add-ons make the MS Office program well worth it. I'm not exactly sure what add-ons you are speaking of but most of the add-ons I liked on MS Office have substitues. For example, I use Daum Equation Editor as a Chrome App to make formulas and put them into text/presentations.
Ultimately, is it worth carrying around a Win8 laptop 100% of the time for options that you might use 5% of the time? Does that 5% even require MS Office or are there substitutes?
Click to expand...

There's an option in Office 2013 in Files > Options > Save to make documents save to a default folder. That's how I do it in our company. By default everything that is Saved or Saved As will go to Skydrive or Dropbox unless they point to another location themselves. We're a project management company with schedulers and construction managers, most of them in their 50's and 60's.
 
Either way microsoft's web apps and google drive apps are anemic compared to the actual desktop program.
 
I would have laughed if that girl at the end said something like, "oh like an iPad" after she said how much she liked the tablet mode :D
 
I doubt a lot of people off the street are using Photoshop and Illustrator. Then they go on with Exel, Power Point, and other Microsoft products. They even go ahead and give snoop dogg a tablet version of Windows 8. Cause when I use Photoshop, Illustrator, Word, and Exel, a touch screen tablet is very important to me. :rolleyes:

I'm not saying Microsoft is wrong about Chrome. But Microsoft did make Office 365, which is just as useless without an internet connection. Then there's Windows 8, which they're just pretending that it's a good product. Also, any product that doesn't have Microsoft Office on it is literally Microsofts fault. So good job at failing Microsoft?

Also, why the fuck are they spending millions of dollars to go after something that's inherently bad? Am I missing something here? Don't they have bigger problems to worry about?
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Linux-on-Steam.jpg
 
xX_Jack_Carver_Xx said:
So, Microsoft is basically saying...

CLOUD BAD

... am I right? :rolleyes::eek::p
Click to expand...

No, they're saying being 100% cloud is bad. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that. Sync folders (Skydrive in Microsoft's case) can be used offline, and when it does go online, it updates the cloud storage with the latest data. Not sure why anyone would see that as a bad thing.
 
And yet MS was pushing the cloud down our throats as "essential" for the Xbox One.
It was "The Future" and we all needed it.
Google does a cloud notebook and they do a 180.
Gotta love hypocrisy.
 
Makes me laugh when people keep criticising Chromebooks saying they are useless if you don't have an internet connection.

Seems to me a lot of people are still living in 1998! Didn't know [H] had so many third world members.

In the civilised world of the 21st Century I have a connection everywhere I choose to be. If I don't have a connection then I've chosen to be there for that specific purpose.
 
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