People need to watch the Moblin 2.0 video. It looks awesome! The YouTube link is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsCpIeLLoT8
Perhaps Moblin should become the default OS installation on ALL netbooks/tablets.
1. It boots in 7 seconds (sorry Splashtop).
2. It provides a slick, touch-friendly UI, suitable for small displays & tablets.
3. There are plans to incorporate the Android framework, so Android apps will run on it.
4. Windows could be offered, as an option, for those wanting to run Windows apps. Virtualization would allow Windows apps to be launched from within Moblin.
5. ... (there are tons of other reasons!)
I think the possible marriage of Android & Moblin is REALLY exciting! It would be cool, to be able to run Android apps on the Moblin desktop.
Intel boosts Atom; puts a new face on Moblin
Summary
Intel puts it focus on netbooks with a preview of its next-generation Atom chip and a new beta version of its Linux-based Moblin netbook platform, with a new interface.
Topics
Intel on Tuesday gave the first preview of its next-generation Atom chip, with a more integrated design intended to improve performance and energy efficiency.
The company also launched the beta of version 2.0 of the Linux-based Moblin netbook platform, with a new interface.The upcoming Atom chip, code-named 'Pineview', incorporates the memory controller and graphics chip onto a the same silicon as the processor, a more efficient design that should lower costs for system builders, lower energy consumption and improve performance, Intel said.
In current Atom-based systems, the memory controller and graphics circuitry are on a separate chip, as are the input-output (I/O) functions, for a total of three chips. The platform of which Pineview is a part, called 'Pine Trail', thus reduces the total number of chips from three to two, Intel said. The second Pine Trail chip, which provides I/O functions, is called 'Tiger Point'.
"We have a processor, we have a chipset, and we have an I/O hub. What we've done is reduce that three-chip partition to a two-chip partition," Noury Al-Khaledy, general manager of Nettop and Netbook Computing at Intel, said during a teleconference announcing the new platform.
The Pineview chip can rely on its own integrated graphics or work with third-party graphics chips such as Nvidia's Ion, Al-Khaledy said.
Pine Trail is scheduled to be available in the fourth quarter of this year.
Atom currently powers the majority of netbooks, the fastest-growing segment of the PC market. Nearly one-fifth of all laptops shipped in the first quarter of 2009 were netbooks, according to DisplaySearch.
The first beta version of Moblin 2.0, also introduced on Tuesday, brings in a new user interface called the M-zone, or "My Zone". This replaces the standard desktop with a tab-based display that provides direct access to email, instant messaging and social-networking sites such as Facebook.
Moblin also now allows computer makers to customize the software's look and feel, said Intel, which handed over stewardship of the platform's development to the Linux Foundation in April. The open-source software platform is specifically tailored for use on Intel's Atoms.
Moblin currently competes with Windows XP and other versions of Linux on netbooks and on mini-desktops called "nettops". Al-Khaledy said Intel is currently seeing 20 or 25 percent market share for Moblin on netbooks and nettops.
IDC, however, said it expects Windows to increasingly dominate the netbook market, with all versions of Linux combined to account for 4.5 percent of netbooks shipping this year.
The beta test version of Moblin 2.0 is available immediately and can be downloaded from the Moblin website.
This article was originally posted on ZDNet UK.
Talkback Most Recent of 38 Talkback(s)
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linuser20th May 2009 -
Had not heard about the Android integration...
I think this would fly before trying to customize Android itself to fit. It would also lead to even better apps for the Android platform. I like the idea and like the look of this customization by Intel. It would be nice to see it as the default. I wouldn't be to surprised if the OEM's went that route.
storm14k20th May 2009 -
Video link
Here is a link to the video with Paul Otellini of Intel discussing the incorporation of Android in Moblin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqE7Yed5rng&feature=player_embeddedlinuser20th May 2009 -
Compatibility?
Moblin sure looks nice - if you just want the basic stuff.
But if you want to run that occasional specialized application, will it have any compatibility?
When it comes down to it, most people just want a familiar OS that runs all of their applications, including the occasional specialized one that isn't really available anywhere else.
CobraA120th May 2009 -
That's why netbooks should not be your primary PC
There's a lot of applications that you should not try to run on a netbook, even if you technically can. For those I would suggest setting up a remote desktop connection with your primary computer. There are not too many of those specialized apps that do not run well over RDC. Except 3D games perhaps, but if I wanted mobile 3D games I'd pony up the cash for one of the lightweight Core 2 laptops.
Michael Kelly20th May 2009 -
Some people just can't face it....
The normal FUD/arguments simply don't work in the netbook realm. But they'll keep riding this "specialized app" mess right into the ground. Funny thing is that I often see articles about people doing some rather intensive stuff on their Linux netbooks. Its mostly things I would not have thought about doing on a small underpowered PC.storm14k20th May 2009 -
Actually you don't get it
People buy $300 machine not for toy.
FADS_z20th May 2009 -
Excuse me?
Are you Borat?
Bozzer20th May 2009 -
However
People do not buy $300 machines to run $1000 software. Which, aside from 3D games (and as you say, this is not a toy) is about all that cannot run on one of these machines.
The original poster brings up a good point as to whether you can install ANY more software (aside from the Android software previously mentioned) and that is a good question that hopefully I'll have the answer to once I get a chance to test drive it. But any type of software that one would realistically put on a $300 computer would run fine assuming there is a method of install. And any other type of software that one would put on a more expensive machine would run fine over a RDC to the netbook so long as there are not any 3D display constraints, and as I said before if 3D were an issue I would not be buying a $300 computer to run it on anyway.Michael Kelly20th May 2009 -
Thats why they need to cost less than $300....
...much less...and the biggest barrier to that will be a certain OS. The fact is that they are small and underpowered so pricing them near the cost of a full laptop makes them pointless...they won't do what a full laptop does.
I've said many times that when the price comes down they will really find their stride.storm14k20th May 2009 -
US Is ! Europe-ThankGod!20th May 2009 -
And I see you are reticent to explain why
Which further implies it as FUD.Michael Kelly20th May 2009 -
Compatibility with what?
You didn't mention what this occasional specialized application normally runs on....don't just assume. Second do we know that a netbook has the juice to run this specialized application?
Most people just want something thats easy to use...familiar or not. This seems to be geared towards the young social media type that just wants to IM, check email, play music etc....not somebody that wants to run Photoshop or AutoCAD which are the normal first line FUD attacks.
As I've said many times...people pick up different cell phone interfaces just fine. You give them a new market of device where there is no "normal" look and feel and they'll continue to pick it up just fine.
storm14k20th May 2009 -
In my case, OneNote
In my case, Microsoft Office 2007, especially OneNote for college notes. Doesn't require a lot of power, a netbook handles it fine.
And some old games. Can't play new games on it, but it works great with some old classics
.
"You give them a new market of device where there is no 'normal' look and feel and they'll continue to pick it up just fine."
Problem is,there is a "normal" look and feel for laptops - and a netbook is essentially a small laptop.CobraA120th May 2009 -
You don't need onenote
Stop this 'brand fetish' of yours. You don't need 'One Note', what you
need is a tool that enables you to do exactly what OneNote provides - of
which there are many.
Kaiwai22nd May 2009
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