CAD for ChromeOS is Possible in 2021

More popular than MacOS

 

There are no native CAD applications for ChromeOS. 

This need not be the case, as proven by Krita, a native Android program meant for tablets that runs as well as a native program on Chromebooks. Here's the point I want to make: Krita for Android is not a reduced-function version of the one that runs on Windows and MacOS. It is full-function.

CAD software written for Android, iOS, and Web browsers are all reduced-function versions, even from leaders in this field like Graebert and Autodesk. 

ChromeOS was originally envisioned as a browser-based operating system, and I found the original Chromebook (from Samsung) pretty lame. I gave up on it, and so did major software vendors.

More recently, Google make the big breakthrough by allowing non-browser-based and Android apps to run like native programs on Chromebooks. it has become a viable operating system for professionals.

- - -

Android tablets have suffered in the market, as manufacturers churn out lame, under-powered models. The high-end models are over-priced for what you get. This problem does not exist among Chromebooks and Chromeboxes.

Here, you get hardware with strong CPUs (think Intel i5 and i7) and large amounts of RAM (think 8GB) all for under $1,000 -- complete with 14" high-resolution touch screen (think 2256x1504); full-size, backlit keyboard; and interactive stylus. I paid $700 last year for such a model. This kind of high-end device is not available from Apple, at any price.

The best part is that these Chromebooks/boxes run Android flawlessly, despite the naysaying from the Applephilia tech media.

- - -

So my suggestion is that we could run full versions of ARES Commander or BricsCAD Pro on Chromebooks by porting the Linux version to Android. This works, because Android is based on Linux. Autodesk, on the other hand, lacks a Linux version of AutoCAD, and so cannot be part of the party. But it has the resources to make one, should it so be inclined. 

In theory, the Linux versions of BricsCAD and ARES can run on recent Chromebook models, but in practice I have found that it is a dog to get Linux running (hello command-line!) and then programs run too slowly to be useful.

The primary problem, it turns out, is 3D, which tends to be supported weakly by the hardware and software in portable devices. Tasks like rendering and ACIS solids modeling are usually farmed out to the cloud.

On the other hand, Google has committed to upgrading ChromeOS monthly, and new CPUs from new foundries are arriving on the market to dramatically strengthen the software. Perhaps 3D graphics in portable CAD will follow the transition cameras made on smartphones, where the processing of images has moved from hardware to software. 

The year 2020 was the year ChomeOS outsold MacOS. But Chromebooks suffer from the Android-customer problem: the laptops tend to be cheap and, as a result, so are the customers. Apple sells less product but charges more, resulting in a customer base that spends even more to accessorize their iBling.

CAD vendors are keen to make customers-for-life out of school children. With classrooms and school-from-homes filling with Chromebooks, 2021 is the year for CAD software vendors to review their product lineup and see how ChromeCAD fits in.

Now take a look at Krita.

Comments

[Joe Dunne]

FWIW...

Onshape, on Chromebook, a big reason Onshape recently surpassed +1M users in education. Onshape on Chromebook is excellent.

Joe

[Ralph Grabowski]

Onshape is CAD that runs in browsers, as do many other CAD programs, such as AutoCAD Web and ARES Kudo, whereas I am advocating for native apps designed for tablets that run with no Web connection on Chomebooks through Android, like Krita for paint programs.

[Joe Dunne]

I must be missing something. The whole point of Chromebook is as a web platform...

[Ralph Grabowski]

Google is making it less of a Web platform, release by release. For a
couple of years now, Chromebooks have had the ability to run Android
apps, complete with all windowing capabilities (full-screen, side by
side, etc). So I can run ARES Kudo and ARES Touch on it.

That is the primary way I use my Chromebook -- as a 14" tablet
running Android with integrated keyboard, stylus, and touchpad; IOW, a
laptop. It is quite remarkable, once you experience it.