In the last couple of days, Moblin, a netbook focussed Linux distribution with particular focus on an easy simple interface and integration of social networking. I downloaded a copy today and gave it a spin on my Samsung NC10.
You are able to copy the live image to a USB drive using the following command:
My USB drive showed up as /dev/sdd, make sure you use the right one so you don't lose any data on another drive. Use "fdisk -l" to see a list of media.
After getting the live USB working, I plugged it in and the first thing I noticed was the speed that it booted. Moblin is very light weight and it really shows during boot and also during general use. Saying light weight however doesn't say that the interface suffers because of it, it is actually an amazingly clean interface that is very easy on the eyes. Navigation is done via a drop down bar at the top of the screen, which consists of a clock with date on the left, eight major tabs in the middle (described later), and notification style icons on the right (power, volume and networking).
The eight major tabs in the navigation bar (from left to right) are:
m_zone:
The m_zone is the start page for Moblin, which summarises a lot of general information. It is split into three columns, each showing a different type of information. The left column summarises calendar entries and has a todo list, all managed by Dates which is neatly integrated into Moblin. The middle column shows frequently visited web pages, and clicking on them opens the pages in the browser. The right column has social networking information and other "Web Services".
status:
The status tab shows the social networking focus in Moblin. In the beta, all you can do is change your Twitter status, however it is fairly obvious that more social networking sites like possibly Facebook and MySpace will also be integrated.
people:
The people tab works like an IM, where you can add accounts and chat with people. In account configuration, you are able to configure Jabber, Google Talk (which uses the XMPP protocol like Jabber) and Salut accounts. I tried to add a Google Talk account but was unable to get it to connect for some reason, so I'm unable to comment on how well the people tab works in action.
internet:
Fairly straightforward, when clicking the internet tab all that appears is an address bar. Upon entering an address, the navigation bar disappears and a full screen web browser (Mozilla based) launches. The web browser, like Moblin in general, is very simple and clean. There is a navigation bar with back, forward, address, settings and exit, below which is a tab bar. Apart from that, a very large amount of area is free for the web pages themselves, which is great for the smaller screen real estate on netbooks and MIDs. The browser displays content well, and passes acid tests 1 and 2, and scoring a respectable 94 on acid test 3. Of note, there is no settings page yet and right clicking doesn't open any menu. Like in most tabbed browsers, a middle click will open a link in a new tab.
media:
Also quite straightforward, the media tab is where users access pictures, music and video. The media tab has a search bar at the top for searching through media, and an as yet unimplemented playlist on the right. The video player is based on gstreamer, so a vast array of codecs will be supported.
pasteboard:
The pasteboard tab is a system wide clipboard management app, where the user can store copied text for use later. It's useful, but you've gotta question if it is important enough to be made a main shortcut.
applications:
The application tab works like a main menu, with access to the range of apps installed. All of the applications are organised into expandable groups, including a settings group. There are standard basic apps like a calculator, terminal, text editor and file browser, and also has a few games installed (including Neverputt which is an awesome little 3D minigolf game). When opening an app, if an app is already open the user is prompted to open in the current "zone" or to open in a new one. Zones are pretty much just workspaces, and can be accessed via the zones tab or by using ctrl+alt+arrow. There is also a search bar at the top of the application tab which is quite useful.
zones:
The zones tab is a simple one which works like a workspace selector. At the moment, only selection of zones is possible and it isn't possible to open any new ones (users are prompted to open a new one when opening an application).
The interface is also very intuitive, and even though it is quite unique it is still quite easy to navigate. Having also used Ubuntu Netbook Remix, it is clear each have their own strengths. I believe that in Moblin, navigation through apps in the same zone and navigation through zones is a little bit cumbersone. UNR on the other hand uses maximus which integrates a programs title bar into a window list at the top of the screen, which uses a bit more room than Moblin, but it makes window navigation easy as non active windows get an icon on the bar. However, in a purely aesthetic sense, UNR still has a way to go (particularly the home page), but Moblin looks amazing in nearly every sense while still mainly hitting the mark in terms of usability. It is going to be interesting to see where Moblin goes from here.
You are able to copy the live image to a USB drive using the following command:
dd if=moblin-netbook-ux-beta-20090518-004.img of=/dev/sdd
My USB drive showed up as /dev/sdd, make sure you use the right one so you don't lose any data on another drive. Use "fdisk -l" to see a list of media.
After getting the live USB working, I plugged it in and the first thing I noticed was the speed that it booted. Moblin is very light weight and it really shows during boot and also during general use. Saying light weight however doesn't say that the interface suffers because of it, it is actually an amazingly clean interface that is very easy on the eyes. Navigation is done via a drop down bar at the top of the screen, which consists of a clock with date on the left, eight major tabs in the middle (described later), and notification style icons on the right (power, volume and networking).
The eight major tabs in the navigation bar (from left to right) are:
m_zone:
The m_zone is the start page for Moblin, which summarises a lot of general information. It is split into three columns, each showing a different type of information. The left column summarises calendar entries and has a todo list, all managed by Dates which is neatly integrated into Moblin. The middle column shows frequently visited web pages, and clicking on them opens the pages in the browser. The right column has social networking information and other "Web Services".
status:
The status tab shows the social networking focus in Moblin. In the beta, all you can do is change your Twitter status, however it is fairly obvious that more social networking sites like possibly Facebook and MySpace will also be integrated.
people:
The people tab works like an IM, where you can add accounts and chat with people. In account configuration, you are able to configure Jabber, Google Talk (which uses the XMPP protocol like Jabber) and Salut accounts. I tried to add a Google Talk account but was unable to get it to connect for some reason, so I'm unable to comment on how well the people tab works in action.
internet:
Fairly straightforward, when clicking the internet tab all that appears is an address bar. Upon entering an address, the navigation bar disappears and a full screen web browser (Mozilla based) launches. The web browser, like Moblin in general, is very simple and clean. There is a navigation bar with back, forward, address, settings and exit, below which is a tab bar. Apart from that, a very large amount of area is free for the web pages themselves, which is great for the smaller screen real estate on netbooks and MIDs. The browser displays content well, and passes acid tests 1 and 2, and scoring a respectable 94 on acid test 3. Of note, there is no settings page yet and right clicking doesn't open any menu. Like in most tabbed browsers, a middle click will open a link in a new tab.
media:
Also quite straightforward, the media tab is where users access pictures, music and video. The media tab has a search bar at the top for searching through media, and an as yet unimplemented playlist on the right. The video player is based on gstreamer, so a vast array of codecs will be supported.
pasteboard:
The pasteboard tab is a system wide clipboard management app, where the user can store copied text for use later. It's useful, but you've gotta question if it is important enough to be made a main shortcut.
applications:
The application tab works like a main menu, with access to the range of apps installed. All of the applications are organised into expandable groups, including a settings group. There are standard basic apps like a calculator, terminal, text editor and file browser, and also has a few games installed (including Neverputt which is an awesome little 3D minigolf game). When opening an app, if an app is already open the user is prompted to open in the current "zone" or to open in a new one. Zones are pretty much just workspaces, and can be accessed via the zones tab or by using ctrl+alt+arrow. There is also a search bar at the top of the application tab which is quite useful.
zones:
The zones tab is a simple one which works like a workspace selector. At the moment, only selection of zones is possible and it isn't possible to open any new ones (users are prompted to open a new one when opening an application).
The interface is also very intuitive, and even though it is quite unique it is still quite easy to navigate. Having also used Ubuntu Netbook Remix, it is clear each have their own strengths. I believe that in Moblin, navigation through apps in the same zone and navigation through zones is a little bit cumbersone. UNR on the other hand uses maximus which integrates a programs title bar into a window list at the top of the screen, which uses a bit more room than Moblin, but it makes window navigation easy as non active windows get an icon on the bar. However, in a purely aesthetic sense, UNR still has a way to go (particularly the home page), but Moblin looks amazing in nearly every sense while still mainly hitting the mark in terms of usability. It is going to be interesting to see where Moblin goes from here.
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