When it comes to laptops, you have more choices than just Windows and Mac. Chromebooks -powered by Google 's Chrome OS -offer versatility and performance at a cheaper price.Many of us use Google services for daily tasks such as gmail, calendar, docs, chat, Chrome and so on. Chromebook comes with all these services built in and they work flawlessly. The taskbar in a Chromebook lets you access all the essential Google apps with just one tap. It even has the Google Assistant that you can call up by saying 'Ok Google'. Your search results for any query will show up in a browser.The Chromebook will also stay in sync with your Android phone or tablet that is configured with the same Google account -it's a great way to keep data synced between devices. Needless to say, Chromebook natively supports offline use of Gmail and Google docs.Chromebooks come with built-in protection against viruses and malware. Unlike the typical operating system, Chrome OS is simpler and updates itself so that you always have the latest security updates and web filters. Since Chrome OS doesn't support Flash, any security issues and loopholes caused by flash based content are automatically blocked. Each web page loaded on a Chromebok runs in its own secure environment called a 'sandbox' -this prevents a particular web-page from infecting the operating system.By default, all the data saved offline on your Chromebook is encrypted for additional security. If you plan to sell or give-away your Chromebook, you can just sign-out of your Google account and do a quick factory reset -all your files are thoroughly removed from the system.Cloud computing has come a long way in the past few years -a number of services (file storage, notes, photos) are now available on the cloud. The Chromebook leverages Google's cloud services for storage (you get 100GB Google Drive storage free for two years) as well as other services including Photos and mail.This also means that you don't have to worry about losing anything. Since everything is stored in the cloud, you can access it anywhere -just sign-in to your Google account and you can access everything from any web browser. After two years of free service, the 100GB of Google storage will just cost you $1.99 (Rs 120-140) per month.While a Chromebook will cost you almost the same as a Windows 10 laptop now, the performance is vastly better on the Chromebook with the same kind of hardware. Most Windows laptops with entry level hardware struggle with multi-tasking -they're enough for one or two tasks simultaneously.In comparison, a basic Chromebook performs seamlessly and boots up in just a few seconds -you can login to your account and you run all the programs you want. Entry-level Windows laptops and Chromebooks come with 1632GB storage but only Chromebooks offer you 100GB of cloud storage free for two years.Chromebooks run a customized operating system based on Linux. Power users can choose to access advanced functions by enabling the developer mode and use it to convert the Chromebook into a full-fledged Linux laptop. This is ideal if you want to perform advanced audio/video editing, coding or file management without investing in a new laptop.You can also set-up your Chromebook as a dual boot machine if you know Linux well enough and switch between a different Linux distro and Chrome OS using tools such as Crouton.However, keep in mind that this requires you to have prior knowledge of Linux and coding ­ casual users should not try this.