Ubuntu Linux Netbook Edition 10.04 (Lucid Lynx)
The Desktop
The Ubuntu Netbook Edition interface is a refreshing change from the desktop version of Ubuntu. Some might find that they even prefer it to desktop Ubuntu. You navigate via the main menu on the left side of the screen:
Favorites
Files
Accessories
Games
Graphics
Internet
Office
Sound
System
It’s very easy and simple to use, as it should be for an OS designed for netbooks.
When you first boot into Ubuntu Netbook Edition, the Favorites menu loads.
When you have multiple applications running at the same time, you switch between them via the icons on the top panel. You can also go back to the main screen by clicking the Ubuntu logo in the upper left corner on the panel.
You can easily customize what appears on the main menu by clicking System then Main Menu. You can add or remove items quite easily.
Customize the main menu to suit your preferences.
If you have updates available, you’ll see a flashing Update Manager icon appear on the panel. Other important icons on the panel include networking, rhythmbox, preferences, volume, the MeMenu (envelope), date, and logout/restart icon. If you’ve used the desktop version of Ubuntu, you’ll be familiar with all of these already anyway.
When applications are running, you’ll see a small, spinning wheel that appears on the right side of their icons. So it’s very easy to know if you have something running while you’re browsing through the menus.
Given how most applications appear in the interface, the raging controversy over the title bar buttons being moved to the left side really doesn’t apply to Ubuntu Netbook Edition. With the exception of Gwibber, you simply don’t see them when running an application.
Controls
To adjust your system settings, just click the System icon in the navigation menu. You’ll find that settings are grouped into two main categories: Administration and Settings.
You can configure all of the usual stuff in either of these menus, including the following:
Software Sources
Hardware Drivers
Disk Utility
Users and Groups
Login Screen
Language Support
Printing
Appearance
Bluetooth
Mouse
Monitors
Power Management
Screensaver
Preferred Applications
Themes & Wallpaper
As with the desktop version, the two new themes are Radiance and Ambiance. Ambiance is the default theme and is darker than Radiance. I tried Radiance but went back to Ambiance. I guess I just prefer the darker look to the lighter one. The wallpaper is also the purplish color of the desktop version of Ubuntu.
You can easily change your themes and wallpaper by clicking the System menu, and then scrolling down to Preferences and then clicking the Appearance icon. From there you can adjust your theme, background, and fonts. More themes and wallpaper are available online. Just look for the “Get More Themes Online” and the “Get More Backgrounds Online” links in each tab.
The files menu lets you access files and folders on your system.
Next, I’ll look at the software bundled with this distro and I’ll cover the tools included to manage it.
(5 votes, average: 4.60 out of 5)
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I’ve been using this latest iteration of Ubuntu on my Aspire One for a few days and have to say that it is just so much better and faster than my tired old XP. It has me up and running on the internet within two minutes of pressing the power button. There are none of the unnecessary frills and bloat that I had with XP and I can concentrate on my work instead of staring out the window whilst waiting for the operating system to ‘think’ about my last request for resources!
Given that I have already run Peppermint OS One both live and installed, and that it has some of the components that can be used with “Cloud Computing”, plus it is fast, easy to modify, it seems to me that it has several of the same attributes that this system has, plus a few that it does not, and therefore, combined with the fact that I do not have a netbook system, I’ve reviewed other recent Ubuntu distributions, and I am resisting Jim’s urgent pleas to “distro hop”, I am going to pass on this one.
I have tried a few earlier versions of netbook editions in virtual machine instances, and it definitely sounds like this one has been improved over the first entries into this space, so it would appear that this niche is rapidly maturing, so that seems like a good thing. It would seem that this would be a decent choice for a system of moderate capability, and especially a netbook system, but I would also note that this is becoming a crowded distro segment, and while this may be one of the decent alternatives, it certainly is not the only one, so shoppers would do well to compare a few of them before deciding which one to choose. This one probably deserves to be on the short consideration list though.
It is unfortunate that you did not have a netbook to use for testing. There are some issues unique to netbooks that may not be revealed on a virtual machine. Some instances: some programs have minimal-height screens (particularly in some setup and options screens) that cannot be adjusted to fit the 600- pixel display height and cannot be raised above the top toolbar… this means the bottom of those screens is not available. Some netbooks have unique hardware issues (The acer fan control comes to mind) that are not addressed and are not obvious on other machines. Another issue is the vertical real estate demanded by the top toolbar.
I agree with wally. The Nautilus Preference dialog box does not fit in 600 pixel height of a netbook screen. There are quite a few programs whose dialog boxes don’t fit in the 600 pixel screen height. I believe this is quite an important issue and Ubuntu could probably look into this since this is supposed to be a very specific use OS.
Overall its a very good and innovative interface.
I came. I saw. meh.
@ tlmck:
And BTW, if you already have Ubuntu 10.04, you can save a lot of download time by simply adding this desktop from Synaptic. It is titled Ubuntu-netbook. There is also a Kubuntu variant in there called Kubuntu-netbook.
Another fairly new and interesting netbook distro is Jolicloud. It works great on my MSI netbook and everything worked from the minute it was installed. It has a similar interface as UNR but very pretty and the software installer is amazing. One button…bam! So simple…so easy…so fast. I urge anyone with a netbook to give it a try. You can even download the express version which will load it right into Windows so you can try it out without a full install. Similar to Wubi with Ubuntu. My favorite netbook distro so far.
I’ve been using Ubuntu Netbook Remix since 9.04 ( I think that was the first one ) and I really dislike the 10.04 version.
I will agree, they made some really nice improvements and the boot time is much faster, but for whatever reason they made the desktop environment really different than any other previous versions or the 10.04 desktop version.
It seems more geared towards Linux/Ubuntu newbies and I find it more difficult to do the things I use to do in it since it’s laid out differently. I just don’t understand why not focus on the version improvements being aimed at performance and not how awkward the layout can be made. Even in the desktop version they moved the minimize/close/expand window buttons to the left side, which regardless if Apple does it or not, previous versions of Ubuntu don’t accommodate this behavior so now it’s a new awkwardness. Then the drastic change in the Netbook Remix version….
To me it’d be like a car manufacturer suddenly switching the brake and gas pedals from the right foot to the left foot and reversing their order or moving the steering wheel to the opposite side of the vehicle for the sake of making it “new” or “different”. I guess to some that approach does somehow make sense.
Did you that its Gnome 2.30 and not 2.3? Gnome 2.3 is an old development released many many years ago.
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