If you're a rabid follower of Caffeinated Pixels (please tell me you are? *hopeful eyes*) then you already know that I currently own and love a Dell Inspiron Mini 9. Ever since I first unwrapped it from its sparse packaging (fitting for a refurb) I've wanted to get something else other than Windows on it. Now, don't get me wrong, XP actually runs great and I've used it A LOT. It's just... so... sluggish... and takes forever and a day to boot. I can actually crack a beer, make a snack, use the washroom, and change clothes before it's even ready to use.
I tried Xandros Presto and was a bit disappointed at the lack of functionality, bright white non-customizable wallpaper, and wireless connectivity issues. Of course, it also costs money. I tried Ubuntu Netbook Remix (or UNR for those in-the-know) and while I'm sure it works OK for some, it was just a pain to get working correctly, so I ditched it. It was worth the ol' college try, but I wanted something easy.
I have had my eyes on Jolicloud (@Jolicloud on Twitter) for a while, and submitted my beta request some time ago. I practically drooled every time I saw someone tweet or write about it, and finally I got "Joliclouded" with my, well, alpha invite (it's not in beta yet.)
What is Jolicloud?
Basically, Jolicloud is a netbook OS built on the foundation of Debian, Ubuntu, and Ubuntu Netbook Remix, designed primarily to be useful for those who use a lot of online apps and social networking tools. Here's what I really like about Jolicloud:
1. Easy to Install
Not everyone has had the same experience, but I will say that trying out and installing Jolicloud was a breeze for me. I personally don't view logging into a Terminal window and writing a disk image to a USb drive is that big of a deal, but then again, I'm a nerd. To be sure, the team at Joli will figure out how to automate this process a little easier for end users when the final release comes out. Anyway, all I did was boot off the USB drive, run through a standard Linux install (using the remaining free space on my 16GB SSD, about 3GB for Jolicloud) and off I went.
It boots just fine into Jolicloud every time, no problem. The only snag I hit was getting wireless configured... it didn't like that my SSID was hidden. Un-hiding my SSID seemed to fix the issue. They really should fix this, since connecting to a wireless network is really the first thing anyone will do with Jolicloud, and many security savvy folks will undoubtably be hiding their network ID's.
2. New Apps and Updates
On top of the regular OS, there is a Jolicloud integrated app that will update your system and install applications. Even in its alpha state, the application installer has almost everything you'd need from media players to OpenOffice. Many of the "apps" are actually separate Firefox browser instances powered by Prism, allowing you to run a Twitter browser window like a separate application. I had several applications up and running within just minutes and they all just worked.
3. It's Fast, For the Most Part
Jolicloud was also pleasantly fast. The system booted completely and connected to the Internet in what felt like a minute (I didn't time it) and was much faster on boot than XP. Navigating through apps and windows is snappy as is accessing the file system. One gripe is that image intensive websites or sites running video seem more sluggish, most likely due to a lack of native video drivers, but this may be resolved in future releases.
Overall...
I really liked Jolicloud and would heartily recommend you get your alpha invite ASAP. Try out the USB live version to see if you like it as much as I do, then install it along Windows if you like - it worked great for me.
The bottom line is that if it is this fast, useful, and great in its alpha state... what will it be like upon its final release? Only time will tell, but I can see this getting 80% of my netbook's operating time!
