Light weight Linux – anything changed?

Once in a while the tinkering engineer inside me wakes up and the urge to see latest light weight Linux distro advancements become unbearable. As it happens with this urge, I downloaded a number of familar distro’s (PuppyLinux, MintLinux) along with some new ones (Lubuntu, TinyCoreLinux, Slitaz). I’ve three testbeds for this experiment. A fairly new Lenovo T60 (Spec…), Dell 700m (Spec) and very old Dell Cpi (Spec)
 

  • PuppyLinux
  • Lubuntu
  • TinyCoreLinux
  • ChromeOS (bootable from USB)
  • MintLinux
  • Kubuntu

downloaded USB bootable version from

Last Updated on May 12, 2011 by SK

Google Chromebook

Google is planning to release Chromebook laptops with their home grown Linux based Chrome OS. they’ve partnered with Acer and Samsung for manufacturing these Laptops. Does this really make sense for Google to release another “me-too” Laptop OS while there are plenty of Linux based open source alternatives available? For a mobile user the existing ChromeOS I downloaded feels too restricting. As I mentioned in my feedback it is a totally new usage model for a user who is familiar with using a regular laptop or a tablet computer. Chromebook seems to be creating a new device segment that is not a tablet or notebook or netbook.

  • What should Google Do?
    • Ditch concentration on Laptop OS
      • Wireless connectivity is not pervasive
      •  Customers will weigh this laptop against much more flexible tablets
    • Promote this as Desktop OS alternative
      • Work with SAAS vendors to prepopulate the links to their applications
      • Wired networking only option to start with.
      • Target Education, Retail, Call Center market where the mobility of work force is not a concern.

Last Updated on May 11, 2011 by SK

Silicon: Intel reinvents chip design with 3D and 22nm

  • Intel announced that it is going to use 3D chips technology in forth coming chips.
    • High lights:
      • Pack more processing power with a small form factor
      • Less power consumption  
      • Extend Moore’s law.
    • Business Leaders
      • Keep on the lookout for similar offerings from NVidea and AMD.
      • Carefully compare alternative architectures (eg. ARM) against this.
      • What sort of devices you can build with this architecture?
      • How your existing investments in other architectures are affected?
    • For End Users
      • Interesting times ahead with more powerful, lighter, smaller and long lasting devices on the horizon
      • More choice in terms of devices
      • Expect to pay more initially for devices based on this new design.
    • Video: Intel’s Mark Bohr Explains the Design

                 <p><p><p><p><p><p><p></li> </ul></p></p></p></p></p></p></p>

Last Updated on May 6, 2011 by SK

This week in Tech Business

  • Cisco Reorganization announced.
  • Intel introduced new 3D design for future chips
  • Applied Materials Acquires Varian
  • RenRen’s  IPO a Succcess.
  • Patent fight betwen ZTE vs Huawei, Samsung vs Apple and everyone vs everyone else!
  • RIM signs up Microsoft for search deal
  • Police raid Google office in Seol
  • Sony PS3 users data breach
  • A Tiny PC – with HDMI  and USB ports, costs $25 – Link

Last Updated on May 6, 2011 by SK