In the past, mainstream technology reviews of netbooks and other computers running Linux have not usually talked highly of the Linux OS that was included. Part of this is a general bias against the unknown. If you try to do something the way you would do it in Windows on Linux, or Mac OS X, it will not work. Another part of the blame, though, falls on the Linux distributions that have been included in the past. This is why I am excited about Ubuntu Netbook Remix. It, seemingly unlike other netbook distributions, was designed with an excellent user interface on top of a great desktop distribution.

My enthusiasm and the enthusiasm of other Linux users means little, though, until we see what the mainstream tech media says. Dell’s Inspiron Mini, which comes with Ubuntu Netbook Remix as an option, is the first chance to see what they think. I was able to find three reviews that discussed Ubuntu Netbook Remix, although most of them credited the Netbook Remix interface to Dell, who made some modifications to it. Below I will try to summarize what each review thought of the Netbook Remix. Of course, reading the full article will give you a much better idea of what they thought. Also, I am leaving out small issues that are most likely Dell-introduced, such as installing the Yahoo toolbar.

AnandTech’s review concluded that for Windows users concerned about Linux, “there’s honestly no reason to be afraid” and that “Ubuntu is user friendly enough that any computer user should be fine.” The reviewer also stated that “the switch [to Linux] is, in my opinion, easier than the Windows -> Mac transition.”

Laptop Mag’s review seemed to, for the most part, agree with AnandTech’s conclusion. The review said that “We were impressed with the smoothness of the transitions and animations.” It also seemed to generally find the Ubuntu interface easy to use.

Notebook Review also praised Ubuntu Netbook Remix, with one exception. Their review stated that:

“On the other hand, if you ever find that you need an application that isn’t already installed in Linux then you need to be familiar with the console and typing strange lines of code like “sudo dash” and “apt-get.” In other words, it’s not as simple as just downloading a Windows program installation file from a website and clicking “install.”"

Ubuntu users will know that this is not the case. You can simply click on the Ubuntu menu and go to Add/Remove… I am not sure exactly why the reviewer was confused. One possibility is that it is somewhat hidden in the customized interface mode. Another possibility is that they assumed that Add/Remove was like Add/Remove in Windows, which basically only uninstalls stuff. Or perhaps they just didn’t notice it.

Whatever the case, they certainly praised other aspects of the OS. Referring to iPods and other devices just working with the preinstalled software, the review said that “It’s all part of the beauty and simplicity of Linux. Things just work.”

Based on this, Canonical should really be having a party right now. They have managed to attract praise for Ubuntu where other netbook Linux distros have received mostly negative feedback, even from long-time Linux users. The future of Linux on netbooks just started looking a lot brighter to me.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 7th, 2008 at 10:21 pm and is filed under Future of Linux, Mobile, Ubuntu. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.