Computer help/free Google apps and extensions recs

[thelinesoflearning]

So, the new computer (which by the way is still unnamed -- it's probably either going to be Beverly Katz or January O'Leary, or some mash-up of the two) is a Chromebook. What we didn't realize was, this means no .exe or otherwise third-party applications.

Which... I did not really use Google apps or extensions for stuff before, so I'm running blind. Computery people, help? I'll take recs for any useful/interesting/helpful ones, but especially if you have ones that can replace any of the following and/or are better at figuring out computer stuff than me and willing to help me find ones, I would really appreciate it (and I will... I don't know, write you something? Edit something for you? Love on you horribly? Whatever I can do?).

*Photoshop
*Audacity
*Sony Vegas. Or even just Windows Movie Maker? Right now I mostly want something that will let me use the webcam to make videos, I can play with vidstuff later.
*Word, although I can use Drive for now
*Calibre
*ITunes? Just... something that will let me put shit on it from my ipod. Preferably that allows me to take the stuff OFF my ipod first.
*...other things, I dunno. throw me useful ones?

Free is better than cheap, cheap is better than absolutely nothing but probably isn't attainable for a while. Thanks in advance.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

Wait, seriously? I acquired a Chromebook back in June for a trip I took in June and haven't pulled it out since. I knew I couldn't run Scrivener on it but that was because I hadn't bought a second copy of Scrivener, I thought, and I was annoyed enough by having to open .rtf in Drive (which did not, of course, work when the Internet was down). I'm thinking maybe I should pull my info off the Chromebook and sell it cheap so I can save for a netbook that doesn't have those limitations.

[thelinesoflearning]

Yep. It apparently makes it really, really secure, which means it might actually be good for me -- I'm really bad at avoiding viruses, my computers tend to crash a lot. But it's also kind of a hassle, so. Selling might be a good idea.

[alexseanchai]

Sulk. Thanks.

[finch]

Let me know what you turn up? I've been thinking about getting a Chromebook.

I've used Picnik, which I think is PicMonkey now, and had pretty good results, but I don't know how heavily you use photoshop.

What do you dislike about Drive vs Word? I mostly write in either Writer or Evernote in my browser. I don't really love Drive. I think Zoho is a pretty good alternative if you want a full word processor, but I haven't used that in a while either.

I listen to music via Google Music, but I have an Android phone. I'm not sure how easy it is to make Chrome OS talk to an iPod.

I don't really use anything like Audacity or Vegas so I don't have suggestions for those. And I haven't found a good alternative to Calibre - I have my Calibre library backed up to SkyDrive, and I can send things to my Kindle or pull up SkyDrive via the tablet or phone, or even in Chrome, so... I'm not sure I need one except if I really want to turn an .epub into a .mobi or something.

[finch]

If you're seriously thinking about selling it, you could drop me a PM? I've been thinking about picking one up but I haven't settled on a model or anything yet.

[thelinesoflearning]

I've found plenty of things, just not many that are offline. If you have good internet I think it'd be just fine? I generally don't, so.

I use photoshop for mostly random fannish things and icons, so I don't need the best in the world. Here's the kind of things I do, if it gives you an idea.

I downloaded Zoho, but I think it needs you to be online. I don't even usually use Word -- I wrote in WordPad on my old computer -- but I just like having an alternative to Drive in case?

It's not at all possible. I need to see if I can get my old one fixed via warranty anyway, though, so I may just end up putting my iTunes on there.

I did find an alternative for Audacity -- although again, it requires internet, so we'll see. Not so sure about vidding or webcam things, but. I msotly like Calibre because I can do things like stick my filk on my kindle via it, but I can figure out what I'm doing.

Sorry for the babble, and thanks for trying to help. I'll let you know when I've had it a little longer what I think, if you want.

[silveradept]

I'm good with searching and finding good things for a Chromebook, but I admit my first instinct was to say, "Crack it open and install Linux, maybe?" There are a lot of possible apps out there to use, but I hope there are enough of them that will work away from a connection for you.

[thelinesoflearning]

Think that requires so much more understanding of computers than I have.... I'm not even sure what Linux is and don't know at all how to crack a computer. Thanks, though. <3

[silveradept]

Linux is an operating system, much like the Chrome operating system on the Chromebook, and it can do a lot more without an Internet connection. But while there are instructions to follow, they probably require comfort with computers to do successfully. So, app searches it is!