NetbookTech

Missed this one last week but the Moblin steering committee released Moblin v.2.1 for Intel Atom processor-based netbooks and nettop systems. Features in the latest release of Moblin include the following (courtesy of the Moblin.org website here):

• New Internet browser which “far exceeds” the previous browser performance and adds plug-in support and add-ons
• 3G data support using Ericsson MBM 3G modems
• Moblin Application Installer is integrated. Application selection comes from the Moblin Garage
• Clutter 1.0 animation framework
• Bluetooth device support. Device discovery and pairing is now supported via a new panel in the toolbar. Moblin now supports Bluetooth audio devices, input devices, OBEX file transfer, and using a Bluetooth  phone as a 3G modem
• New version of ConnMan which now supports Ethernet, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and 3G
• Support for nettop systems
• Improvements to Instant Messaging
• Input method support now included across the system
• Localized in English, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Swedish, Finnish, Korean, Japanese, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional
• Includes updated versions of key technology components including Linux kernel version 2.6.31, Intel Linux graphics driver 2.9, X server 1.6.4, and Mesa 7.6.

If you’re curious about one person’s experience in getting Moblin 2.1 up and running on a netbook, head over to the Intel Atom Developer Program and check out Gina Bovara’s posting on installing Moblin 2.1 on an ASUS Eee PC 1005HA netbook.  Here’s a quick blurb from that posting:

“I have entered the world of Moblin with my Asus Eee 1005HA netbook, and I am loving it so far! I’ve been move productive on the go this week and I am having a lot of fun doing it!”

We tried out Moblin 2.0 beta when it was first released earlier this year. While it was certainly promising, it was still a bit too raw and buggy for our liking. We’ll have to give 2.1 a spin and see how this version fares!

You can download the images by going to this link over at the Moblin.org website.

[Check it out]

Ryan Paul of Ars Technica has published a look at the Dell Mini 10v netbook running the recently released Ubuntu Moblin Remix Edition. Announced near the end of September, the Ubuntu Moblin Remix Edition is a new Linux distribution combining the core Moblin 2.0 interfaces, libraries, and applications with the guts and internals of Ubuntu Linux 9.04. However, don’t mistake this distribution as something ready for public mass consumption. Dell labels the distro as “Developer Edition” since it’s certainly far from being stable and feature complete.

The review takes you through the major elements of the Mobline user interface and applications (Ryan also does a brief look at the Mini 10v netbook also). Here are a couple of noteworthy comments from the review:

• Took 22 seconds on average to get to a fully usable desktop – FAST
• Moblin in this distribution is slightly more stable than the release back in May
• Utilizes Intel’s network connectivity management framework called ConnMan
• Web browser is the weakest component
• Moblin web browser has no support for add-ons
• Comes with Anjal email application which works well for small screens

Finally, here’s an excerpt from the conclusion:

“From what I’ve seen during my extensive testing of the Mini 10v, I think that Moblin is very promising and is built on some truly great and innovative ideas. Execution is still rough in certain places, but Intel certainly has the resources and technical expertise to make it shine. It’s like raw bacon: although it’s unappealing in it’s current form, it has the potential to be truly scrumptious when it’s fully cooked.”

Moblin certainly looks like a compelling solution for netbook users considering Linux. Although it’s arguably far from being usable by the mass audience, it’ll be exciting to see where Intel and the open source community takes this platform.

[Check it out]

Dell and Canonical announced last week the availability of the Ubuntu Moblin Remix Developer Edition for the Dell Inspiron Mini 10v netbook.

Ubuntu Moblin Remix Developer Edition is a new Linux distribution combining the core Moblin version 2.0 interfaces, libraries, and applications with the internals of Ubuntu Linux 9.04. The distribution is called a “Developer Edition” since it’s still a “work in progress” – (which means the rest of us might call it an Alpha or a Beta version but whatever).

Ubuntu Moblin Remix Developer Edition can be purchased factory-installed on the Mini 10v at www.dell.com/ubuntu. You can also download the Ubuntu Moblin Remix installation image at the Dell Moblin wiki page here – http://linux.dell.com/wiki/index.php/Moblin.

[Check it out]

Do you find yourself curious about Intel’s Moblin 2.0 OS for netbook systems but are too scared to even consider trying it out on your netbook? Well head on over to PC World’s hands-on look at Moblin here on their website. There are no pictures to speak of unfortunately but it’s still a good write-up on the OS. I’m still in the middle of writing up my own look at Moblin but I need to play with it a bit more before I can complete the article.

Here’s a snippet from the PC World article:

“Once up, the desktop felt incredibly fast. If I didn’t know I was running it on 1.6GHz Aton equipped netbooks with 512MBs to 1 GB of RAM, I never would have guessed I was running it on such low-end hardware. Moblin is the anti-Vista. It runs great on minimal equipment instead of requiring the fastest possible hardware and still running at a snail’s pace.”

Here are some of my own 2 cents on Moblin 2.0 thus far:

• Easy to install – took about 25 minutes or so to install on Samsung NC10
• Super fast boot – I didn’t time it yet but it felt like 15 seconds max on my NC10
• Sleep recovery did not work properly on the NC10
• Love the user interface concepts. It certainly won’t appeal to everyone out there but if all you need is to surf the web, read email, look at social networking websites, then Moblin 2.0 is certainly promising

Stay tuned for more info..

[Check it out]

Are you feeling a little adventurous today? How about taking the newly announced Moblin v2.0 beta for a spin today on your netbook system? You can download the current image from the Moblin website and try it out on your netbook by either booting it off a live USB image or installing it outright on your system. Features in the v2.0 beta include:

• New rich user experience optimized for netbooks and nettop devices
• m_zone acts as a “home screen” panel providing instant access to calendar, tasks, etc
• Aggregation of social networking content
• Web browser optimized for Moblin 2.0 netbook user interface
• Zoomable media player
• User interface for connection management
• Support for Linux desktop applications

We’ll give Moblin 2.0 beta a spin later on in the week. In the meantime, download it and let us know what you think.

Also – check out the below video for more on the new user interface of Moblin 2.0

[Check it out]

[Download Moblin v2.0 beta]