By the way, Zaine (and other Linux experimenters), have you tried
JoliCloud?
It's a distribution based off of Ubuntu Netbook Remix and is in Pre-Beta (which is basically Alpha, right?).
Justin Pot over at MakeUseOf.com has good things to say about it:
I’ve been looking for the perfect operating system download for netbook, and along the way I’ve checked out Chrome OS and Moblin. Chrome’s Internet-only approach turned me off, and while I was quite impressed with Moblin, I concluded it’s not quite ready to be my primary netbook operating system yet.
Jolicloud, however, is the real deal. It exists in a world where desktop applications and web apps are on the same level, and it does so with style. Best of all, it’s extremely easy to use.
He then goes on to mention some of the highlights of why he really likes it, which I'll summarize:
- Apps are tweaked by default to be optimized for netbooks. He specifically mentions how Firefox's "File/Edit/View" toolbar is hidden behind a drop-down arrow on the right side of the Awesome Bar and that the status bar is hidden until a site is loading (like the Chrome browser).
- Application manager allows you to install or remove programs using one click (for each application). Also, "web apps" are listed as apps.
- Web Apps: Basically a window dedicated entirely to a specific website. Get your Gmail, Facebook, Pandora, or whatever website you typically always have a tab open to in it's own window, without the toolbars getting in the way and taking up that precious vertical real estate. Basically a full screen browser window to just that site. And if you click a link in the Web App, it will open up in your default browser instead of browsing away from the web app.
- Compatibility: If your netbook is listed on the Jolicloud compatibility page you can expect it to "just work." My MSI Wind 120 is listed and, as advertised, it installed and runs perfectly. And according to Justin Pots, even if your machine isn't listed there's still a good chance it will work.
- Easy to try: It has an installer like Wubi, which allows you to install it from Windows which makes it show up in the Add/Remove Programs list for easy uninstallation.
I tried it out and it does work extremely well. It doesn't even have the problems that Ubuntu Netbook Remix had on this machine (such as screen flickering until it figured out whether the AC Adapter was plugged in or not).
Probably my only complaint thus far is that the application manager has very slim pickings when it comes to applications to install. It probably has enough applications for anyone who would be happy with Chrome OS, but as far as I could figure out, if it's not on the list, there's no easy way to install it, since the usual Synaptics Package Manager thingy is nowhere I could find it.
I wanted an FTP client and I couldn't figure out how to get one, and I couldn't figure out how to get FTP commands to work from the terminal (which I consider for "advanced" users, and thus not the market Jolicloud is looking for), so as far as I know, I'm out of luck for an FTP client until they decide to add one to their application manager. But maybe that's just because I don't know much about linux and the advanced techniques (or maybe something extremely simple I'm overlooking) to get other apps on there.
EDIT: I searched the forum and found that Jolicloud was briefly mentioned in this thread:
Advice on Netbooks. And after reading the linked article, Jolicloud seems to have changed a lot since it was reviewed last July.
Recent Posts
