8 Results for Netbooks

Google's Chrome OS Will Attempt to Reinvent the Security Model

ZDNet's Dana Blankenhorn has an interesting post up called Crome OS will rise or fall on the safety dance. In it, he notes that there are a number of security initiatives in Google's upcoming operating system for netbooks, including system hardening, process isolation, secure auto-update, verified boot, intuitive account management, defenses in depth, and devices secure by default. Indeed, one of the most ambitious aspects of Chrome OS is the tough stance that it will take on the security front. Here are some details on that tough stance.


Chrome OS Unveiled, Source Code Now Available

As GigaOm reports, Chrome OS is a natural evolution of the work that?s been done on the Chrome browser, Sundar Pichai, VP of product management, and Chrome OS engineering director Matthew Papakipos said when they unveiled it at Google?s Mountain View campus today. The operating system is designed to imbue web applications with the ?full functionality of desktop applications,? they added. It also features a lock-down security model, where it will download a new image of the operating system and install it if malware is detected. Cached data will subsequently be retrievable in the cloud. Source code for the OS is avaialable now. For more details, see the GigaOm story.


What Lies Ahead for Chrome OS?

So rumor has it that Google's Chrome OS, which had been slated to arrive some time next year, is about to arrive as a beta release. As I pointed out this morning, netbooks based on it may help preserve open source influence on a hot hardware category, but is Chrome OS likely to be a smash hit?


Don't Count Linux Netbooks Out

The announcement last week of a Linux-based smartbook from Lenovo was just one of several signs I'm seeing that Linux will maintain a foothold in emerging portable computing categories, including netbooks and smartbooks. Many people predicted that, with the arrival of Windows 7, which is squarely aimed at netbooks, Linux would fade on low-cost portable computing platforms. Here are several reasons why that is probably not going to happen.


Moblin's Newfound Momentum Will Increase Open Source OS Fragmentation

Wow, could the world of open source mobile operating systems possibly become more fragmented? Yesterday, we noted that at this week's Intel Developer Forum (IDF) conference in San Francisco notebooks running on the open source Moblin OS are due to arrive, and Intel officials demonstrated a smartphone with an Atom chip running Moblin. Moblin will join Google's upcoming Chrome OS and Ubuntu in the fight to keep open source operating systems competitive on netbooks, and Intel's phone demo based on an open source OS represents the company's first foray into chips and platform technology for smartphones. Moblin/Intel phones may soon be competing with Android phones, and phones based on the upcoming open source version of Symbian's OS.


First Netbook Running Moblin Version 2 is Set to Arrive

As Slashdot, Moblin Zone, and ZDNet UK are reporting, the very first netbook preinstalled with Moblin version 2 for Netbooks is likely to launch next week, very probably at Intel's Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco, or at Portland's LinuxCon. ZDNet UK did an interview with Imad Sousou, head of Intel's Open Source Technology Center, in which he implied as much. Sousou has also confirmed that Moblin version 2 will be made widely available after that, with many new features.

While Microsoft's Windows 7, due in October, is going to be aggressively pushed in the netbook space, Moblin will join Ubuntu and Google's upcoming Chrome OS in the effort to keep innovative open source operating systems going in the fast-growing netbook space. Intel has handed stewardship of Moblin over to The Linux Foundation, which could help its chances. Netbooks represent an important frontier for open source adoption and innovation, and I have my own guess at who will be shipping the first Moblin v2 netbook.



Jolicloud's Netbook OS is Getting Noticed, Looks Unique

In a recent discussion with LinuxPlanet about Linux netbooks, Cathy Malmrose of ZaReason (a Linux netbook OEM) made the following statement about European startup Jolicloud, which is working on a Linux-based netbook operating system: For the cloud, I'm headed off to Paris tomorrow morning to talk with the JoliCloud developers. JoliCloud appears to have the most promise at this point.

Malmrose isn't the only one taking notice of Jolicloud. CNet's Josh Lowensohn has taken the beta version of Jolicloud's OS through some early paces, and says: I've been giving it a thorough run-though over the past few days and have come away impressed at what it's trying to do. Some bits and pieces are definitely still beta, but the underlying approach of making Web sites and software applications feel the same, as well as introducing users to new ones to use is really innovative. Does this unusual netbook operating system have a chance?



For Linux-Based Netbooks, the New Kids May Hold the Most Promise

There is a lot of hubbub about Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 operating system and its prospects on netbooks, which remain a hot-selling hardware category, but what about Linux on netbooks? Asus and others were early to deliver Linux-based netbooks, Dell continues to offer Ubuntu-based systems, and there are new, Linux-based operating systems that may have bright netbook futures.

We've made the point several times?that Linux and open source applications can get a big boost by being successful on lightweight, inexpensive portable systems.? Still, if you go to a retail outlet to shop for a netbook, you rarely see Linux. Why is that, and what prospects does Linux really have on netbooks?