The rise of the Chromebook?

Chrome as an operating system has been around for a while but has never seemingly taken off. This may be due to the fact that the cloud based nature of it has been too big of a jump for people moving away from Windows and the supposed 'safety' of Office.

However, now that the Chrome OS has had a little time to mature there appears to be far less barriers to jumping on board.

Firstly, the cost of the hardware makes it look very appealing, starting at just £199 for the lower spec model. Although their new flagship model, the Chromebook Pixel (video below) will set you back £1,049...

Secondly, the option for offline editing has improved vastly with Documents and Presentations being available to edit offline with them syncing when a connection becomes available again. Although there is still a way to go, Spreadsheets and Drawings aren't available for editing yet, this is far better than it was last year.

Lastly, it's easy to use. The Chrome OS is a 'light' version of an operating system that focuses specifically on browsing the web, document creation and portability. Ideal for taking to meetings and using as a laptop in front of the TV. If you're a diehard gamer then it's not for you but for the day-to-day browser this could prove to be a very useful machine.

The big question now is, do you feel brave enough to leave Windows behind?