(It should be noted that after this two-year period, users will have to pay a subscription fee to keep the storage active, currently US$2/month or US$20/year.) Drive grants a 7-day grace period to renew the subscription failing which the storage resets to the free 15 GB limit. Google offers 100 GB of Drive storage free for two years with the purchase of a new Chromebook. Access to the user's Drive account is baked into the file manager which makes opening, organizing, and managing files saves in Google's cloud storage service relatively simple.
Perhaps the most useful Chrome apps are the ones centered around Google Drive. The company is all set to announce its next Chromebook iteration, the Pixelbook, which is to be marketed as a premium Chromebook. Google also made its own Chromebook, the Chromebook Pixel, which debuted in 2013. Notebooks such as the Asus Chromebook Flip, the Samsung Chromebook Pro, and the HP Chromebook 13 have seen a good number of takers. With Chromebooks, one can reap most of the benefits of the cloud while also including the ability to connect to more advanced PCs remotely.įor those interested in trying out ChromeOS, there are a bevy of Chromebook offerings from OEMs such as HP, Samsung, Acer, Asus etc.
It is precisely this environment that caused Google to feel the time was right for their Chromebook computer - and since Chromebooks have been one of the few bright spots of growth in the PC market these past few years, it is hard to argue that their introduction has been a mistake. Cloud computing has its own benefits such as having instant and secure access to files from virtually anywhere, on any platform and an always up to date operating environment. Although PCs can still be used without the internet, a great deal of functionality is lost without it.
Fast forward to today, we find that more and more of our productivity and entertainment software are now becoming increasingly reliant on the cloud. Just over a decade ago, "the cloud" was merely an experimental feature pioneered by Amazon, and internet connectivity was seen as more of a bonus to enable additional work (or play) rather than a requirement for it.