Netbook Scoop

At Netbook Scoop, we have been testing various new operating systems on our netbooks over the last week.

Earlier we reviewed Google Android as a netbook OS.  We also published tutorials on installing Android and Moblin on bootable USB memory sticks so that you can test these OSs without actually installing them on your hard drive.

Today I’m going to show you Moblin 2.0 Beta running on an Asus Eee PC 1008HA.

Booting Moblin

I decided to install Moblin 2.0 to the hard drive of the Asus Eee PC 1008HA to give the operating system a true run.  The boot time was about 45 seconds.  Not bad for a Linux based OS (note that I did not install the quick boot option).

Once I was booted into the Operating System I come right into the MyZone Screen.

Now you may notice that the MyZone main screen has a lot of information on it.  Once you configure your RSS feeds, Twitter Account, Etc… you will see that the right panel will display all the latest updates.

The middle pane shows all the latest media, web pages, and other similar items that you have recently viewed.  Last is the left pane which holds your calendar entries and current tasks.

MyZone gives you a quick and easy view of your mobile life right on the main screen.  This is a very nice feature of Moblin.

Exploring Moblin

Moblin is built on top of a Linux kernel. You can access the console through the Application Zone.

As you can see you will have access to all your typical Linux commands, and this will give you the capability to install any Linux-based applications as well as full capability to configure the system to your heart’s content.

You can access all of Moblin’s applications through the Application Zone.  In the picture below you will see the Zone Menu at the top of the screen.

You can navigate through all of the standard zones by moving your mouse across the tabs at the top of the screen.

Managing the Network

I found that managing your network connections was a snap in Moblin.  Clicking on the wireless icon on the top tool bar will open your network management application.

I simply clicked on my wireless network and added my WPA key.  This took seconds to connect up and start browsing the Internet.

Media

Mobin has your typical media player and picture viewer.

This beta version was missing a number of codecs.  I tried playing some divx, and wmv files and had no luck.

Moblin installed a sample video,  which played well on the Asus 1008HA (although it was a bit grainy).

Here is a picture of what the media library looks like.

Games

Now what would an Operating System be without some games to kill your free time.  Moblin has added a handful of games to make your idle time more enjoyable.  Here are a few pictures of the Frozen Bubble 2 game.

Summary

The Moblin user interface is simple and easy enough for any user to learn.  Gone are the spooky days when it took a real hacker to know how to even use Linux.

However, the Moblin OS is that is centered around the mobile user.  It does not attempt to be a comprehensive replacement for a typical laptop OS.

If you are looking for a full-blown Operating System that does everything  Windows XP or Windows 7 does then you will be disappointed.

Moblin is based around social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.  You will also find build in messengers like Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, and MSN Messenger.

Moblin is definitely aimed for your social butterflies.

The beta was noticably slow when running some applications.  The Internet Browser was also very slow when loading web pages.  I am sure that everything will be optimized before the production release.

Overall,  I’m impressed with Moblin.  I am happy to see something really different coming to the netbook world.  It will be very interesting to whether customers embrace Moblin when it is finally released.

What are your thoughts?  Will netbook buyers flock to an operating system focused on enhancing the social networking experience – or will they want their netbook to operate like a normal laptop?