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by Groxx 24 days ago
So replace the OS: https://docs.mrchromebox.tech/

I've done that with mine. Worked great, and now I get around 30 hours of battery life with a lean linux distro, as long as I'm only like reading websites or writing on it.

2 comments

>So replace the OS: https://docs.mrchromebox.tech/

How's the Windows support with this flow?

Depends on the device (for both Linux and Windows): https://docs.mrchromebox.tech/docs/faq.html#will-my-device-r...

For a list of devices: https://docs.chrultrabook.com/docs/devices.html

Which windows program are you looking for, specifically?
>Which windows program are you looking for, specifically?

All of them, specifically.

I don't want to think about which windows program can or can't run with Wine.

This includes:

* Microsoft software, from MSTeams to Windows itself

* Audio production software (DAWs and VST plug-ins)

* Games

* Device-specific software (like drivers/software for portable thermal printers)

* CAD (nTop, only supports Windows, for example, and don't tell me I don't need it; same for many Autodesk products. NX and Rhino don't have Linux support)

The last one is the most fun, as I'm a CAD developer who worked on nTop in particular.

We'll have to see how the AI softwarepocalypse goes. If I only need 10% of the features of Photoshop, I really don't need to be spending money on the full software suite.

How's nTop Linux support coming along?

I'm surprised you want to run real CAD software on a netbook. I think your use case is pretty unusual.

Also drivers are often better on Linux.

>I'm surprised you want to run real CAD software on a netbook. I think your use case is pretty unusual.

CAD has been around since before IBM PC came out. It's not necessarily a demanding piece of software.

Still, scratch CAD. My favorite VST synths are Windows-based.

And I don't want to lug around extra kilograms just to make some noise.

tbh audio might be the hardest fit here - low-channel sound cards on low-end devices is pretty common, last I looked, and it tends to be CPU-heavy (and these tend to use very weak CPUs). you'd probably be fine rendering it out and checking the result (slow but afaik not usually memory heavy), but it may struggle with scrubbing around.

hard to say without actually trying it tho. and depends on the device, of course - mine was like $250 when new, it's a very different beast than a $1,000+ chromebook. the higher-end ones are much closer to normal laptops.

tbh I suspect it would be just fine. even the really cheap ones tend to have at least a few gigabytes of RAM.
I think you missed the point of a netbook.

Aside from Microsoft Office, the rest is workstation stuff, and Microsoft Office is pushing "web first" (at least if their pricing is to be believed, the lowest O365 subscriptions do not offer access to the native apps).

>I think you missed the point of a netbook.

I think you missed the point of the question.

> the rest is workstation stuff

Yes, I want to be able to run workstation stuff on the small computer I carry everywhere, so that I don't have to carry my workstation everywhere.

get a workstation laptop then?

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.

Your e-bike can’t tow a carriage either, that’s not strange.

I have a matte black Pixelbook Go running PopOS and i love it.

The hardware feels great to hold (though the touchpad is still meh). I covered the Google logos with a glossy black vinyl Obsidian sticker.

https://notes.danielgk.com/Hardware/Travel+Laptop