People should get it – Jolicloud is just another Ubuntu distro
Many people, thanks to the wonderful support from Techcrunch (search result) and plethora of other tech blogs, have been made to believe that Jolicloud is the best netbook OS out there, whereas it is just another Ubuntu distro with few additional apps that are merely just a bookmark to some particular web-service.
Few features of Jolicloud everyone is talking about:
Prism apps:
These apps are quite stupid. Click Google Reader or Gmail app and they will be running in a standalone window, using firefox to display them. Nothing revolutionary here, except for the fact that it eats more RAM. So, no strong integration beyond providing icon-based launcher.
This is bad, especially in case of netbooks which do not come with 4 or 8 gigs of RAM. End result – Slow netbook
The games stuff are mere bookmarks to the flash websites. What’s up with that?
Another quote from a site over-supporting Jolicloud
Jolicloud netbooks will be able to run local high definition video, which is hard to do over the browser today. And with services like dropbox users can store files locally on their netbooks and sync them to the cloud. Chrome OS users won’t be able to store files locally on their machine, other than via offline browser access.
The question is how? It can do nothing extra what a standard netbook running Ubuntu cannot do. So, if your Ubuntu netbook can play HD video, Jolicloud too will. After all, it is based on Ubuntu. Infact, it is Ubuntu Netbook Remix as mentioned in its review
Build in codecs for music and videos
I was pretty exciting to see Jolicloud playing back my movie without installing codecs from the repos, unlike Ubuntu. That little advantage is of less relevance now as Linux Mint 8 OS also comes with built-in audio and video codecs. So, if you want Ubuntu with codec support, get Mint 8 OS. It also has better hardware support.
Bottom Line
I am finding it weird and ludicrous that Jolicloud is being touted as a UNIQUE OS. Folks who actually use Ubuntu 24×7 know the reality. May be the target market for the Jolicloud OS are the Linux n00bs who have never used Ubuntu/Ubuntu NBR before – no pun intended
Read Jolicloud review
Read Mint 8 review
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The first honest review I’ve seen about this crap OS :)
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This post was mentioned on Reddit by kevinbaconbits: Omg.. now the ubuntu crowd is falling into the crowd of what old disgruntled linux users used to be? You know that when ubuntu came out we were seeing the same type of posts about ubuntu where people…
*sigh*
I’ve been saying the exact same thing for ages.
Glad someone else sees this.
Jolicloud is only doing what Linux Mint did, and you gave Linux Mint a positive review. Seriously…your “bottom line” here applies equally to Mint. So does that make you a “n00b”?
Reposted from Reddit’s comment section because it hits the nail on the head so well:
Omg.. now the ubuntu crowd is falling into the crowd of what old disgruntled linux users used to be? You know that when ubuntu came out we were seeing the same type of posts about ubuntu where people were saying “It’s just debian” or “why not use Fedora which has better support?” … the thing is, jolicloud can do whatever they want. If they can market netbuntu better than ubuntu then more power to them. In the end, it means more users which is a good thing for linux as more companies will provide linux support.
Linux will and should always have multiple distros so that people’s personal needs can be tailored too rather than having some company tell us what’s good for us. I personally use multiple distros on the same comp with a triple boot of Puppy, LXDE, and ubuntu. And I like the choice. I know a lot of people that could enjoy jolicloud.
[...] Now this review, while rather rough and biased as they clearly are not thrilled about the piggy backing over Ubuntu, presents some fair points to be considered. Sadly, it’s mostly opinion. I am also confused as to how the review states that HD video is not possible? According to distro specs, HD video works fine with a GMA500 chipset which sounds right to me. [...]
You make some good points. Strangely I installed UNR on a buddy’s netbook (ASUS 1201HAB) but it ran extremely slow. I then installed jolicloud, and it runs at full speed.
This is because it comes with half baked GMA 500 drivers, while in Ubuntu, you’ve to install them manually
I really appreciate the work that was put into this info you have posted.
Your points hinge on very slight differences in wording. Jolicloud IS a different OS from the standpoint of it’s interface, which is what makes it so unique. Nobody cares what’s underneath the interface. If you spent any time with it, you’d see why it IS unique. Installing applications, viewing videos, listening to music, social networking, it’s all slick and painless. The casual user can enjoy the interface and not worry about the OS and that’s a huge difference from what’s out there.
I agree with @chronos2771.
Full-blown Ubuntu is awesome! What gives Jolicloud its edge is not the function (obviously) but the form… the UI.
Before Ubuntu, the same fights existed with Mac and Windows… Why use Mac, it’s just Windows but with less games and pricier software. While this is true, people like Macs for reasons I think people like Jolicloud.
Gone are the days of every OS having a start button with cascading menus holding references to applications one hardly ever (or never) uses. 99% of what I do on a netbook is web based. 1% can be satisfied with simple apps like VLC, f-spot and Gimp.
It’s not about function at this point, just personal taste.