5 Chromebook Myths You Need To Stop Believing

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Chromebooks showed up on the scene in 2011 as cheap, low-end, Linux-based laptops that were still snappy, had long-ish battery life, and could meet basic computing needs. They were a Windows PC alternative with a fair number of compromises. Whether or not they lived up to those vaunted expectations is another question; they certainly needed quite a few years in the oven before anyone would choose one over a Windows PC. Nonetheless, Chromebooks have matured into a solid experience, and options abound if you buy one today. Before you do, make sure you’re not operating on outdated information.

A lot of people considering buying a Chromebook may be clinging to what they thought a Chromebook was a decade ago, rather than what it actually is today. Chromebooks are no longer devices that become unusable once they lose their internet connection, and it’s not just elementary schools buying them for students to play Duolingo. Here are five myths about the Chromebook that we should finally put to rest.

Remember those compromises we mentioned? One of the biggest used to be that Chromebooks came with, effectively, a death sentence — and a quick one. Unlike Windows PCs or Macs, where you could count on many years of updates, the average lifespan of a Chromebook was often fairly short. Early Chromebooks lasted as little as three years, after which they effectively became e-waste unless you could figure out how to install Windows on a Chromebook. Bear in mind, this expiration date started from the model’s release date, not when you bought it. Buy a three-year Chromebook a year after it came out, and congratulations, you only really got two years out of it.

Luckily, Google realized this was a wasteful and consumer-unfriendly policy and pledged a full decade of updates for devices made in 2021 and later. For reference, the average lifespan of a MacBook Pro means it gets feature updates for about seven years, give or take, and security updates for a few more years after. Windows 10 came out in 2015 and was retired almost exactly 10 years later in October 2025, leaving hundreds of millions of devices without security updates. Long story short, 10 years of updates puts Chromebooks in line with industry standards.

Even after your Chromebook officially loses updates, there are options to squeeze more life out of it. ChromeOS Flex is one option, basically ChromeOS for older devices that have lost ChromeOS or Windows support. If you’re brave, you could install GalliumOS, a Linux distribution made specifically for ChromeOS devices. Switching to Linux isn’t easy, but it’s better than trashing a perfectly usable computer.

If you’re looking to game, don’t get a Chromebook — get a Steam Deck OLED. However, if you’d like to play some less-demanding indie games, your Chromebook may manage, with a bit of elbow grease. Sadly, the official method of installing Steam on Chromebooks will be discontinued on January 1, 2026, but some Chromebooks capable of running Linux apps can bypass this by installing the Linux version of Steam. You’ll have to set up a Linux development environment and install Steam using a .deb file. Since Steam can translate Windows games to run on Linux via the Proton compatibility layer, you may be able to play a surprising number of games on your Chromebook. The only limitation will be your hardware.

If that doesn’t work, there are still other ways to play PC games on your Chromebook. First, check whether a PC game you’re interested in has an Android version. You’d be surprised how many do. Classics like “Stardew Valley,” “Slay the Spire,” and “Machinarium” (to name just a few) have Android ports that may work on your Chromebook.

Using a game streaming service like NVIDIA GeForce Now is always a great option since all you need is a solid internet connection. Some people have even managed to install SteamOS (a game-oriented Linux distribution that also uses Proton) on a Chromebook, though not easily. Expanding your horizons beyond just Android and PC games gives you more options. There are a whole bunch of browser-based games like “Messenger” and “Fallen London” that run on basically any Chromebook. The moral of the story is that if there’s a will, there’s a way, and your Chromebook is only limited by your patience with tinkering.

Officially, the Chromebook’s software support is pretty limited, there’s no denying it. Although there are distinctions between ChromeOS and Android, ChromeOS is, for all intents and purposes, a locked-down Linux system restricted to running Android apps. “Real” software — apps exclusive to Windows, macOS, and Linux — doesn’t work, which is why buying a Chromebook is a non-starter for many people. Having said that, it doesn’t take much effort to get a Chromebook to run some “real” apps.

The key is setting up Linux on your Chromebook using that development environment mentioned previously. Once you’ve done that, you have two options: Install Linux apps through the terminal or with a Linux package, or use a compatibility tool like CrossOver. The former option will most likely run apps without issue, but it limits you to what’s available on Linux. You’re out of luck if you’re trying to run Photoshop. CrossOver can, in theory, run anything that works on Windows, but prepare for a mixed-bag experience. I’ve used CrossOver a ton on macOS, and it’s rare to get a game or app running perfectly — if it runs at all. Before you buy a CrossOver license and put in all the effort to install it, use CrossOver’s compatibility database to see if others have gotten it running on Linux.

Installing Linux apps directly is easier since you can just download a .deb file from the internet and open it like an .exe file, or use a simple terminal command (“sudo apt-get install gimp -y” installs GIMP, for example) and voilà. But if you have serious software needs — i.e., software you cannot live without — definitely get a Windows or macOS device instead of a Chromebook.

Most people have long had the impression that a Chromebook is a pale shadow of a real computer. Outside of web and Android apps, there’s a no man’s land of real-computer tasks where the Chromebook cannot venture. Not necessarily. This one depends on what you need a computer to do, but we’d argue that for most people, a Chromebook meets their needs.

For starters, Chromebooks support a much wider range of external devices than you may think. We’re talking external hard drives, game controllers, headsets, keyboards, printers, webcams, drawing tablets, and so much more. You can connect two external monitors to a Chromebook. The most common file types are supported, so if you need to open an .mkv movie file or unpack a .zip file, you can. Chromebooks support Google Drive natively, or you can download any major cloud storage provider via the Google Play Store. Most of the apps you use probably have Android or web app versions — or close equivalents.

Chromebooks do have limitations, don’t get us wrong. They still lean heavily on internet connectivity, don’t work with all peripherals, and may struggle with heavy multitasking. Everything could be hunky-dory until that one app you need fails to run, even with Linux or CrossOver. Most of what the average person does on a computer boils down to web browsing, checking email, and working with basic file types. Windows, macOS, and Linux beat Chromebooks by a hundred miles in terms of versatility, software and hardware compatibility, and processing power, but saying a Chromebook can’t replace a laptop is no longer true.

The keystone sales pitch of Chromebooks from the outset was their value. They keep prices low by using lower-end hardware and skipping the Windows license, so in theory, the best option for tight budgets is a Chromebook … right? Kinda. Make no mistake, the best cheap Chromebooks can easily go for a couple hundred dollars on the low end, even less when on sale. This Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook is $166 at the time of writing — a computer with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. It’s hard to nitpick when you’re getting a full-sized laptop for less than a budget smartphone.

The issue is that, above a certain price point, Chromebooks stop being a steal. To give you an example, take this Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 that retails for $500 and starts with 8GB of RAM and a 128GB hard drive. Around that same price, you can get the Lenovo V15 G2 laptop with a bigger screen, more RAM, and more storage. Since the Lenovo is a Windows 11 PC, it can do way more than the Chromebook can, even if it may not be as power-efficient. Chromebook’s few advantages over Windows — like the fact it’s harder to get a virus on a Chromebook — won’t be enough to tip the scales.

Chromebooks excel when you want something cheap, light, power-efficient, and easy to use. But once you move into mid-range prices and above, the inherent limitations of ChromeOS make them a pretty bad deal. Buy a high-end Chromebook, and you’re basically just ripping yourself off. We’ve mentioned ways to get around ChromeOS’s limitations, sure, but they’ll give you a headache when you just want things to work.