A Chromebook is a personal computer running Google Chrome OS. The devices comprise a distinct class of personal computer falling between a pure cloud client and traditional laptop.

The first devices for sale, by Acer Inc. and Samsung, were announced at the Google I/O conference in May 2011 and began shipping on June 15, 2011.

Chromebooks are shipped with the Google Chrome OS operating system, which uses the Linux kernel, and the Google Chrome web browser with an integrated media player. With limited offline capability and a boot time, according to Google, of eight seconds, Chromebooks are primarily designed to be used while connected to the Internet. Instead of installing traditional applications such as word processing and instant messaging, users add web apps from the Chrome Web Store.^[7] Google claims that a multi-layer security architecture eliminates the need for anti-virus software… (read more)