Use Chrome as your desktop

Set up a super-slick desktop in Chrome.

Google is no longer just a search engine – it now offers a collection of highquality web apps which are now in competition with software such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, as well a series of other brilliant web apps and services. A web app is just the same as an app you would have on your smartphone or tablet, but it runs through a web browser such as Firefox or Chrome. What can be a little jarring about this transition into web apps is the fact that you are no longer installing a piece of software onto your computer, nor are you opening up files as you would have done in the traditional way on your computer. Instead, everything is accessed through Chrome, although there is desktop software for Drive, which will locate all of your files into a folder format on your desktop. But as for running something like Google Docs or Sheets, all of this happens within a browser window.

To help ease the transition into making your web browser your new desktop, follow these steps to set up your brand new Chrome-based desktop, offering easy access to all of your most important web apps and sites.