The great security of your Chromebook is another good reason to leave Windows 10 update errors behind
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Credit: Geralt/Pixabay
My recent article on how Microsoft’s poor history of releasing dangerous Windows 10 updates gives people good reason to switch to a different operating system that produces more mail from readers than anything I’ve written for Forbes in the past three years. Almost all of that mail was from old Windows users who are tired, looking for a replacement and asking about Chromebooks and Chrome OS.
Chrome OS updates automatically in the background without disturbing the user. Google rolls out security updates as soon as they’re ready and applies them silently when you turn on your Chromebook. Compare this with Windows interrupting the work and forcing the update either immediately or in the near future. Windows 10 updates are annoying and annoying and has a consistent history of breaking software or making computers unusable.
Security updates for Chrome OS are not only easy, but they play a major role in making Chrome what many consider the most secure operating system in the consumer market. Here’s why Chrome OS is safe.
Credit: Clker Free Vector Images/Pixabay
sandbox
One way to increase the efficiency of the operating system is to allow the processes running on the system to share resources. You do not have to create a separate resource pool for each process if you create a shared pool that each process can share. The problem with this approach is that malicious code that accesses the resource pool can spread throughout the system. The solution is sandboxing.
Sandbox locks the process into an isolated environment that doesn’t share resources with anything else. If the malicious code gets into the tight sandbox, you won’t be able to get out. More importantly, it cannot exit and integrate itself into the operating system as it can lead to serious problems.
Chrome OS sandboxes with a vendetta. Every program and every application runs in its own sandbox. Every tab and every web page is protected in Chrome. If you visit a website that downloads malware into your system, it will remain in the sandbox. Close the tab and play! he is gone.
Credit: Google
Boot Verified
Suppose something is escaping from the sandbox and infecting the operating system. What do you do next? Simple, start your Chromebook and the problem should probably be resolved. Google calls it boot verification.
When Chrome OS is running, each component of the operating system is compared to the current version that has been verified by Google. If a discrepancy is found, the operating system is quickly replaced with a clean, up-to-date version. This happens every time you start your Chromebook.
Boot verification is great for maintaining security but it only works if the user shuts down the Chromebook instead of putting it to sleep. If you’re switching to Chrome OS from Windows (or macOS), you may have gotten into the habit of leaving your computer to sleep so you don’t have to wait through the 30-90-second boot procedure when you come back.
Breaking the habit with a Chromebook is relatively painless because Chromebooks are fast. My Pixelbook with 7th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, 12GB storage takes about 8 seconds to reach the password screen and between 3 and 4 seconds to reach full readiness after entering the password.
credit; Digital Artist / Pixabay
Automatic updates
Add auto-update to the mix and you can see why Chrome OS is so secure. During the boot sequence, Chrome OS checks to see if a new update is available. If so, it installs it without interrupting the user. It is smooth, painless and effective.
Aggressive sandbox helps prevent malicious code from infecting your Chromebook. If the malware manages to escape from the sandbox and infect the operating system, it will be detected and removed the next time the system boots up. Any security updates released since the last time your Chromebook was turned on are automatically applied. All this happens in the background without disturbing the user. All you have to do is use your Chromebook, turn it off when you’re done and turn it back on again.
Credit: PaulBr75/Pixabay
machine wash
Chrome OS is more secure than other popular operating systems but no operating system is 100% secure. What happens if Chrome’s defense fails in depth and your Chromebook is hacked? You powerwash it.
Powerwash is what Google calls a factory reset. It completely wipes your Chromebook’s hard drive and installs a clean copy of the current version of Chrome OS.
If you have to reinstall Windows, you probably think that washing your Chromebook seems like a nightmare. In fact, like almost anything else about Chrome OS, it’s easy. After reinstalling Windows, you should manually reinstall most of the programs you were using on your Windows machine. If you’ve done it once, you probably won’t want to do it again. You do not have to reinstall any software or applications after the Powerwash process. If you store personal files on your Chromebook’s hard drive, you should back them up before you powerwash and then remount them. If you store your personal files in the cloud, you don’t even have to.
You don’t have to reinstall software and apps because Google does it for you. The user signs in to the Chromebook with their Google Account. If sync is turned on—which is what it should be to get the most out of Chrome OS’s security features—all software and apps on your Chromebook are always synced to Google’s servers. When a user signs into Chrome OS on their freshly washed Chromebook, Google replaces all software and apps just as they were before. You have to wait for your software and apps to load but that’s all you have to do. Turn on your Chromebook, sign in, and in no time your system is the way you left it minus the issues that triggered the powerwash in the first place. Note that if you switch to a new Chromebook, the same procedure repeats the way you set up your system on your old Chromebook. All you have to do is log in.
Credit: Google
Security and ease of use were built into Chrome OS from the ground up and it shows. If you’re thinking of escaping the constant threat that updating Windows 10 will crash your PC, consider a Chromebook. Not only will you reduce or eliminate your worries about updating, but you will have the most secure computing system in the consumer space and all you have to do to update and secure it is to turn it on and off.
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