Windows PCs, Macs are slow and crash constantly, mocks Google

Google's new Chromebook video reminds the world of the worst of Apple and Microsoft computers.

Tired of Microsoft's and Apple's desktop alerts? Try a Chromebook, says Google.

If you need speed, Google thinks Chromebooks are the notebooks to buy in its new ad showing off their "built-in virus protection, a battery that lasts all day, and automatic updates", offering a "new way of doing things" to let you "stream, play, and work without anything slowing you down".

That is, assuming you live in a country or region with cheap and fast broadband, which still matters to some despite some things working just fine offline.

Google's latest Chromebook ad pokes fun at slow installs on macOS and stalled applications -- hate seeing Apple's beach ball delay graphic? -- the barrage of upgrade alerts and system errors on Windows machines, and nightmarish warning dialog boxes from OS vendors and third-party antivirus.

And for good measure the video shows off a blue-screen message, reminding its Windows targets of Microsoft's BSOD past.

The ad, see below, also highlights Chromebooks' gaming credentials, and that you can use Slack, Netflix, Evernote, and photo-editor Lightroom too.

The ad campaign is clearly part of the back-to-school round of promotion that Apple and Microsoft will probably also be launching in a bid to win some of the K-12 education markets that cheap Chromebooks dominate in the US.

Given the age of some of the criticisms, the ads seem anachronistic but they're most likely aimed at people who haven't updated laptops in a while or are annoyed at Apple's apparent ignorance of macOS hardware enough to consider a switch.

Google is also targeting people who've probably never tried a Windows 10 machine, which these days come with built-in Windows Defender antivirus and has automatic updates, even if some people feel disrupted by them.

The adverts also land as Google prepares Chrome OS to take on Windows 2-in-1s, Apple's $299 for school buyer iPad, and responds to Microsoft's new $400 10-inch Surface Go.

The non-LTE version of the 10-inch Surface Go tablets will be available in North America on August 2, suggesting that education is top of mind for Microsoft, with the business market to be dealt with later.