Archive for the ‘Moblin’ tag
Netbook OS alternatives abound
If you’re feeling a wee bit adventurous with that brand new netbook of yours, why not go ahead and try out a different (and free) operating system other than the bundled Windows XP OS that’s probably on your system? Why even do this you ask? Well ask yourself this question. Do you do anything on your netbook that specifically depends on Windows XP? Do you spend the majority of your time on the web, checking email, socializing with others on Facebook, tweeting on Twitter, playing with Google Docs, or just working with one web service after another? If so, then you have plenty of OS choices to consider OTHER than Windows XP.
With that said, here’s a quick rundown of available choices for you to play with.
If we’re going to go Linux – why not opt for the Netbook Remix version of Ubuntu. You get a nice customized user interface designed specifically for netbook screen sizes and you have access to all that is Linux.
If you’re all about cloud computing and widgets galore, then you’ll want to check out the gOS. gOS is a desktop OS built on top of Linux with a very Google centric feel to it. If you live in a Google dominated world, then why not give this OS a whirl.
Moblin is another take on a cloud-centric OS. This OS, sponsored primarily by Intel, features a user interface that’s social networking heavy. There’s a primary dashboard that presents the latest status updates from friends etc on networks such as Twitter. Moblin is promising – especially with boot up times of around 20 seconds or so on a netbook. Fast.. very fast but still buggy.
But wait.. there’s more. That’s right – there’s Jolicloud – yet another spin on a cloud-oriented netbook OS. News.com actually has a quick preview of Jolicloud here on their site. I don’t have much experience with Jolicloud but it certainly “looks” impressive from the user interface perspective.
And I’m sure there’s plenty more out there that I can’t think of (oh yes.. there is the looming Google Chrome OS for netbook systems next year.. but that’s not here today as of yet).
BUT – the big takeaways is – we the consumer have many more choices than ever before when it comes to alternative operating systems for our computers – especially for netbook systems. Of course there are challenges in moving to a new OS – particularly in the hardware support front. Whether you try out a new OS ultimately depends on whether the new platform makes you more productive than your current platform. If you’re into trying new things, then by all means try it out. If you’re more along the lines of the straight and narrow, then you’ll want to see if you can do everything you need to do within a Linux-based OS.
Enjoy!
Intel and Taiwan Govt to open up Moblin development center
Intel has entered into an agreement with the Taiwanese government to open up a development center in Taiwan to further the Linux-based Moblin OS that was created by Intel to run on devices powered by the Intel Atom processor. Moblin is based on a Linux kernel, has a user interface, a browser, developer tools, and other resources which Intel will continue to develop and optimize as part of the agreement. They decided to locate the development center in Taiwan since this is really the area where netbooks first took off – notably from the likes of ASUS and Acer.
According to Intel CEO Paul Otellini:
“The hottest thing going on in the computer industry today is the netbook phenomenon, and it started in Taiwan,”
Linux has received a fair amount of attention and support in the netbook market primarily because there are limited options in utilizing Windows on the platform. Most companies have opted to use Windows XP Home Edition over Windows Vista primarily due to Vista’s higher resource requirements. Yet with Windows XP slated for retirement, many vendors are left with limited choices. Thus Linux, being free and lighter weight has become a popular alternative for the netbook market.The new Moblin development center will open up in December.
Good OS announces support for Moblin
Good OS, the developer of gOS, announced today that they would be expanding their consumer-friendly Linux OS to the Moblin Open Source Project. What is Moblin? According to the project’s website, Moblin is the following:
“Moblin is a Linux-based software platform for building visually rich, dynamic, and connected applications that run on devices based on Intel® Atom™ processor technology. Moblin’s common core allows application portability for running on devices such as MIDs and Netbooks.”
Moblin provides a software stack/foundation from which application developers can create usage model-independent applications executable on multiple platforms including netbooks and Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs). Here’s a picture of the software stack:
From the website: “Below the Moblin Foundations layer are the Linux Kernel and device drivers specific to the platform. On top of the Moblin Foundations layer are the specific applications, user interfaces, and user interaction models for the target device.”
Now why this move by gOS? According to Good OS Founder and CEO, David Liu,
“We see a significant number of NetBook opportunities today, and Moblin technologies will provide gOS a lower cost platform to develop new products. There are many new and exciting possibilities in the Moblin project, and we look forward to developing the best cloud computing interface possible on top of Moblin.”
Check out the gOS website for additional information on the consumer friendly Linux OS. Check out the Moblin website for additional info on the Mobile application framework (including how you can get an image working for yourself)
