I bought a Pixelbook on Black Friday and I wish I didn’t
Last year, on Black Friday, Google was giving out a huge discount on its Pixelbook. You could get one for just $699 (originally priced at $999). Since I always wanted to try working with a Chromebook, I immediately bought one. But now I’m starting to regret it.
Don’t get me wrong, the Pixelbook is a fine machine. My model has a Core i5 CPU with 8GB ram and 128GB storage. I tried to convert a 90 minutes 4K blu-ray rip into mkv using my 4-year-old i5 6600K desktop PC and the Pixelbook, the Pixelbook managed to finish before the desktop PC.
The problem with the Pixelbook / Chrome OS
The problem with the Pixelbook is with its software. The Pixelbook runs Chrome OS, a Linux based OS and basically a glorified Chrome Browser.
It runs website and web app well, like the Spotify web player. You can check your Gmail, work on Google Doc, watch video on YouTube, browse the web using a desktop class Chrome.
Problems begin when you want to do other stuff like photo editing and coding. Yes, you can install Linux packages, but the app support is very limited as of right now. And yes you can install Android Apps too, but if you tried the Android Apps experience on the Pixelbook, you’ll know it just minimally workable. Majority of the Android apps were not meant for the widescreen.
The same situation also applies to coding. You could install Visual Studio Code, but I never used it. It’s also a plain in the ass to setup Docker, I had to go through pages of issues on Github to finally arrived a solution to make Docker work on the Pixelbook. In short, coding on the Pixelbook would mean breaking my usual way of work.
Do I really hate PixelbookChrome OS?
It sounds like I hated Chrome OS, but I’m not (apart from the third-party apps support which isn’t Google’s fault). Assume I could get all my favourite apps working and running on the Pixelbook, using the Pixelbook would be very enjoyable.
The OS design is modern. I wowed when I noticed there’s an OS level file download manager. It’s like the way of downloading files on Android devices, but this time on a desktop OS. There’s also file system sandboxing that works similarly to iOS.
While installing Linux packages, you could not install them directly inside Chrome OS. Instead, Chrome OS offers something called Project Crostini. In short, it’s a containerized Debian image that allows you to install and execute Linux packages. Imagine it’s endless possibilities if the Pixelbook can run containerized Windows apps like Photoshop and Word.
What I really hate about Chrome OS is its prospect. I am willing to switch to Chrome OS if Google commits into Chrome OS. But I feel like the Pixelbook is an experiment by Google. Yes the OS design is modern, but it’s incomplete, lacking lots of standard features that Windows and MacOS offer.
In the end…
I actually a 13-inch MacBook Pro, 15-inch MacBook Pro and a Windows Gaming Laptop. As a developer, I used the 15-inch MacBook Pro heavily at work. The feature that I missed the most while using Pixelbook is the MacBook’s trackpad and three-finger drag gesture.
I grow to rely on a Mac heavily. I tried to switch to Pixelbook but I can’t. The Pixelbook is an elegant piece of engineering (physically), if only Google invests more into Chrome OS, perhaps I can make the switch by then. But as of right now, say goodbye to the Pixelbook…
