The laptop market in Nigeria is largely Windows-centric, with a steady increase in the concentration of MacBooks. Chromebooks (ChromeOS), and Linux are rare. More people are in fact familiar with Windows-powered laptops like Dell, HP, Toshiba and Lenovo, which have become household names- than any other brands.
About every organization, school, office, etc, in Nigeria carry out their tasks using Windows laptops. Windows has become a building block for a lot of computer-based activities in the country. Why, you may ask.
Right from primary education, pupils learn the basics of a computer system using a Windows-powered laptop. For class activities and assignments, students use Windows core applications like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Corel draw, etc. From an early age, children learn to understand or easily navigate a Windows-powered system. When these children grow up, the “Windows influence” continues, learning a computer-based skill occurs using a Windows system.
The influence Microsoft Windows has on Nigeria is very great, but does this mean other operating systems can’t thrive in this clime? Apple Macbooks have steadily crept in and are doing great numbers in the tech and film ecosystem but how does the Chrome OS stack up against Windows?
Chromebooks are laptops that run on Chrome OS, Google operating system for laptops. Chrome OS is an operating system designed by Google from the free Chromium OS software and is based on Linux. It is very lightweight, this is because Chrome is its default user setting. Yet, what are the strong points of a Chromebook, and what are its weaknesses?
Windows VS ChromeOS – User experience
- Unlike a Windows-powered laptop, a Chromebook is easier to use and understand.
- We observe that you do not have the freedom of running core Windows apps on a Chromebook.
- To bear for the lack of core Windows services like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and the likes, Google provided similar apps that perform the same actions. Chromebooks fully support apps like Google Docs, sheets, slides and all other productivity apps from Google.
- Core Android mobile users will have no problems getting used to the Chrome OS.
Chromebooks also have a few operational advantages over Windows-powered laptops, these advantages may hold Chromebooks above the competition.
- Chrome OS is lightweight and does not demand as much as Microsoft Windows.
- Chrome OS-powered laptops do not consume a lot of battery power. An average Chromebook can last over 10 hours on a single charge.
- Chromebooks are relatively affordable. You can grab a powerful Chromebook for less than $300 (124,350 naira). Extra tip: Popular Chrome OS site ChromeUnboxed is giving away the Acer Chromebook 514 and you can enter to win here.
If you are looking for an affordable laptop to purchase for school purposes or content consumption, you can look into getting yourself a Chromebook. Virtually all major laptop brands available in Nigeria produce Chrome OS-powered devices, Samsung, Lenovo, HP, Acer, etc. Chromebooks have a long way to come in the Nigerian Laptop market, but there is a lot of potential for its growth.