Acer Chromebook

[Bazile]

Do i need to worry about virus /malware protection on a chromebook or does   it come with  adequate protection ?

[Buenchico]

Let's 'start from the other end' here. 

Windows PCs and laptops rely upon linking all of their software together via the 'registry'.  That seemed like a good idea when Microsoft first designed Windows but its main flaw is that if anything nasty manages to get into one bit of the computer, it can fairly easily spread to lots of other parts of it.  

All other operating systems though run without a central registry.  Indeed, they're designed to do exactly the opposite through using 'sandboxing' (which keeps software apart and therefore prevents anything nasty that's got into one part of the device going any further). 

ChromeOS (which is what's on a Chromebook) is based upon the open-source ChromiumOS which, in turn, is a Linux derivative.  All versions of Linux use 'sandboxing' which, just like Android (which is also from Google), means that it's far less likely to succumb to a virus attack than Windows might be.

I've never used a Chromebook.  (They simply don't appeal to me).  However, if I did then (just like when I use my Android devices) I'd be perfectly happy to rely upon its native security and I wouldn't seek out anything extra to top it up with.

[Bazile]

Thanks Chris