One week into the LINUX project and we hit a snag. Well actually several.
First there was iTunes, or lack there of. Next there was the resolution. Then there was the TMobile USB broadband issue. But the problem that finally broke the camels back was the touchpad on the Dell Mini 10. The driver for the touchpad was impossible to use and for the life of me I could not figure out how to fix it from LINUX.
I did plenty of research on these issues. I found out that to fix many of them I had to download libraries, compile them, configure packages. And in the end, the performance on Ubuntu was not so impressive that I needed to have it.
At 9AM on Monday morning I downloaded the latest RC for Windows 7. By 4PM,in between doing my real job, I was able to create a USB drive that was bootable and had W7 installed and running. The cool part was that despite the horror stories I had read about the process of getting W7 on a Netbook, this was at least as easy as ordering Ubuntu. No kidding.
The trickiest part was creating the USB boot drive. I ended up asking for help (thanks OZ). But in the end we (mostly OZ) figured out that all we needed to do was format the stick with a Vista machine and specify that it be bootable. Then we used an ISO manager to expand the W7 download to the drive. Plugged it in, turned it on, and BOOM! The install started just like that.
The initial performance was a little slow, so I tweaked a few of the index settings and turned off Areo. My Netbook is as least as fast as the Ubuntu 8.0.4 and snappier than the limited XP version I was using.
By far the coolest thing was the fact that the first time around W7 did NOT pick up the display, but once it completed the install, it went out to the Cloud and found it, installed it, and then recommended the proper settings. Resolution resolved!!!
W7 picked up the touchpad the first round. It was correctly configured and I did not have to touch any of the settings.
I am not saying that W7 is better than Ubuntu 8.04, but it is far easier to manage for a guy like me. The strongest example of this was the USB broadband modem, when I used it under XP I needed to do some manual install for the drivers. I would had needed an LINUX Guru and several hacks to get it to work with Ubuntu. Under W7, the drivers on the USB drive were installed configured and ran the first time!!! If nothing else W7 is really smart.
For now I am optimistically hopeful for W7, but I was optimistic about the the LINUX move too. All I can say is I'll keep you updated as this progresses. Currently I am at 20K feet, between DFW and Greenville, SC typing this entry in Google docs, so the world is moving for me again. And my screen pointer is in synch with my finger tips on the touchpad!
LINUX people, I know you guys love your OS, but it just did not work for me on the Softless Netbook. If it is any consolation I am sure it is my lack of LINUX skills not the ability or quality of the OS.
Next stop is back to the search for the Powerpoint replacement. Just so you know I am holding true to carrying just the Netbook on the road, the presentation I have to give in SC, is on the USB stick and I'll use the customer's computer to show it until I get a Cloud version in place.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
A New Arrival
The new Softless LINUX Netbook arrived over the weekend.
The main difference is the battery. It's larger. Not only larger in terms of time I can work (6 hours it says) but it is larger physically. It is like my other battery got pregnant!
The issue is it tilts the entire computer down from an elevated back. It took a little to get used to it, but now that I have it actually makes typing a little more comfortable.
The next big change is the screen, or I should say display. The last one was limit in resolution, this baby goes all the way up to 1366 x 768, I keep it on 1280 x 768 so my eyes can focus on what I am typing.
Also I should mention that the processor in this Atom based machine is clocked at 1.6 not 1.3 as the previous version. I am not sure I would ever know the difference.
Before I get to the software configuration I have to get my old user data off of the Windows machine. I thought I should set aside some time, you know all those word documents and such! I found out that when you work online there is not much to undo on the computer you use. I simply un-installed iTunes (my exception to the rule).
I deleted my user, Un-installed DropBox and deleted that folder, and boom, things were as if I had never used the Netbook. I have to remember in the future that this entire process only takes a few minutes, not a few hours as my past Windows user deletions.
Next was getting my new LINUX Netbook up to speed. First I went through the Dell setup wizard for Ubuntu 8.04. That worked flawlessly to create a user and get some folders set up and help me connect to the WiFi in my home. If I was at Office Depot I would have pressed the "That was Easy Button!"
I needed to install DropBox. I admit, I have not used LINUX that much and part of this exercise is to get my Penguin computing skills up to snuff.
My first realization is that sometimes the cute little wizards that Windows offers are not available, especially for utilities like DropBox. I ended up having to jump out to a -bash session, start a nautilus daemon and then start DropBox.
Not really, actually the folks at DropBox provided a cute little wizard similar to the ones you see in Windows. I simply had to start Firefox, go to the DropBox site, download the LINUX package, click on it and all of the above happened without me touching the keyboard. Pretty convenient. But I read some forum posts on the DropBox site where some users experiences were not quite as easy, be ready.
Speaking of Firefox, I also had to add the same host of addins. Omnibar, Speeddial, and of course LittleFox to make the browser use maximum display for the page content. These addins are now standard for me regardless of the platform I may be using Firefox.
The downside so far has been the discovery that iTunes does not have LINUX client. Amazing, I guess that means the iTouch is back in the bag for travel. I plan to investigate some alternatives for watching MEG movies and listening to music. I'll be sure to keep you updated.
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