Customisation - support tips from Google

Click here to read a Google support page that explains how add Apps to the Shelf on your desktop and the way they are displayed.

Personalise ChromeOS - tips from LaptopMag

Click here to learn a handful of ways you can customise Chrome OS and jazz up some of the elements you interact with every day.

Wallpaper and themes - tips from HowToGeek

Click here to learn how change the wallpaper for your desktop and how to switch themes to create the look and feel you want.

Web Apps for Web sites

Click here to visit the Applicationize website that explains how you can create Web App Launchers for your favourite sites using their method that is not easily available elsewhere. Once you've created, downloaded and installed your Apps [explained during install process] you can use them to launch your favourite sites directly using their icons either in your App Drawer or by placing them on the launcher bar for easy access.

Get More Productive With Your Chromebook

Floating Windows

Click here to read an aboutchromebooks article named “Chrome OS tablet mode to get resizable floating windows”.

Splitting screen easily

Click here to see an Android Police article from June 2022 called "Chrome OS could let you split your screen in different ways"

Click here for an earlier XDA Developer article called "How to split screen on a Chromebook in clamshell or tablet mode" that shows you a few clever tricks, that you may not have heard about, that are worth getting to know.

Connecting an external monitor to your Chromebook

Click here for a HowToGeek article called "How to Connect an External Monitor to a Chromebook" that explains what to do.

Overview Mode Overhaul on Chromebooks

Click here for a ChromeUnboxed article that goes through features introduced with Chrome 84 for both Tablet and Clamshell modes.

UI Changes on Chromebooks

Click here for a ChromeUnboxed article from Aug 2020 that mentions how the "CHROME OS DISPLAY UI IS GETTING A USEFUL UPGRADE" that should be made available "in one of the next two major updates".

Virtual Desks {Desktops} on Chromebooks

Click here for a HowToGeek article that explains how use multiple desktops.

Linux on Cloudready and Chrome OS

If you want the ability to run Linux Apps within Cloudready / ChromeOS [using virtual machine technology] you must first turn on the facility in "Settings" by activating the Linux [Beta] switch for Linux VM [Virtual Machine].

This can be really useful if for example you want to use a second [alternative **] web browser, or any other Linux App.

N.B. ** By default Cloudready [and Chromebooks] come with the Chromium browser installed as your default means of web access.

However using the Linux VM means you can install full Linux Apps providing your system has plenty of resources. For example installing the "Bit Browser" means you can run two browsers, side by side, and each with their own websites / tabs, and you can easily switch between them. For more good ideas and reasons for having a Linux capability see the next section.

Why Run Linux At All ?

Click here to see an article by AboutChromebooks called "5 reasons you might want to run Linux on your Chromebook" that explains the benefits of having some more traditional desktop applications available providing your hardware is powerful enough to run them.