In January (2009) i had heard about “Jolicloud” on techcrunch.com. Jolicloud is a Linux based operating system aimed directly at Netbooks, and this really interested me. I didn’t want a machine that would run Photoshop or other high end software programs like that. All i wanted was a machine that allowed me to check emails, and access certain websites like twitter.com and so on.

So this week i purchased a Samsung NC10 Netbook with Built-In HSDPA from expansys.com. Expansys.com were great and delivered the Netbook the next day without any problems. I straight away got to work of removing Windows XP and installing Jolicloud.

The Samsung NC10 is a great little machine, and i would highly recommend it. Its extremely light and quiet and the battery life is amazing. I had it on for over 6 hours on one charge yesterday. I suppose the only let down, was Windows XP that came with it. It came pre-installed with all the usual crapware and free trials, but that was soon all gone once i started the Jolicloud installation.

The Jolicloud installation was extremely easy, and was all done in about 20 minutes. Once the installation was done, and i setup my Jolicloud account on the machine, i was then asked to setup my Wifi and 3G connections which were both easy to do. I have a “Pay As You Go” 3G sim card with “3 UK“, and this was plugged into the sim slot on the Samsung NC10 where the battery is located.

Jolicloud is still a “Pre Beta” piece of software which you can only download by invite only, but if you submit your email address on their website, you should get an invitation quite soon. The software might still be a pre-beta piece of software, but i really wouldn’t have guessed that. I haven’t come across any bugs yet, and the software has run amazingly well on my Samsung NC10.

Jolicloud has a sort of App Store built into the OS, where you can download free apps likes, OpenOffice, Boxee and Skype to name a few, but i did notice that Firefox hadn’t been updated to the latest version of 3.5.x yet and was still running version 3.0.x. I’m not sure if this is a linux problem, or it the Jolicloud developers have to create an optimized version of Firefox 3.5.x for Jolicloud, but its not a huge problem. Once you download any of the apps that you like, they are organised into different categories such as, “Internet”, “Office” and “Graphics”, but you can also mark the apps as your “Favourites”, so that they all appear on your “Favourites” page.

The only issue i have found with Jolicloud so far, is every time i start the Jolicloud OS, i get a message saying…………. The Application ‘NetworkManager Applet’(usr/bin/nm-applet) wants to access the default keyring, but it is locked. When i start any OS, i dont want any passwords to enter, i just want the desktop to appear and thats that.

Overall i have been extremely pleased with the Samsung NC10 and the Jolicloud OS, and it amazes me that this software isn’t even at the “Beta” stage yet, so i can only see goods things for the future of Jolicloud as my Netbook Operating System of Choice.

Here are a few more screenshots.

I love the idea of a really small and light computer that you can carry around with you and for them not to cost that much. But the one thing that has really got me interested in Netbooks is the emergence of  the “Netbook Optimized Operating System”, and the one that has caught my eye is the Linux based, Jolicloud.

Jolicloud is still in the testing stages of development, but even at these early stages it just looks amazing. Its exactly what a Netbook operating system should be like.

I love the iPhone style “Apps” that jolicloud incorporates, and its layout and design is just amazing.

Netbooks are known for their low processing power and low amounts of Memory, so thats why its so important to have an operating system that utilizes the processor speeds and RAM available.

I dont actually have my first Netbook yet, but i do have my eye on the Samsung NC-10 or the Asus 1008HA and will be keeping an eye out for any other Netbooks that come onto the market before the official release of Jolicloud.