Netbook operating system Jolicloud is available as a free download for pretty much any Intel Atom or VIA C7-M powered netbook. The OS blurs the lines between the desktop and cloud-based applications like Facebook, Google Docs, and Gmail. And as of today, it’s available in both English and French.

Later this week, the Jolicloud team plans to launch a German language version of the operating system. In other words, the goal isn’t just to make sure the operating system runs on as many different netbook models as possible. The goal is to make it available for as many netbook users as possible too.

I’m still not convinced that’s going to be enough to convince a huge number of people to use Jolicloud instead of Windows or the upcoming Google Chrome Operating System for netbooks. But while Jolicloud is a download-and-install-it-yourself operating system for now, I wouldn’t be surprised if the company is working behind the scenes to get some PC makers to preload the OS on their netbooks.

The Jolicloud team has announced that the final release of Jolicloud “Robby” is due out before the end of the month. The update will incorporate a number of features we’ve already told you about, including support for Intel Atom Pine Trail and VIA C7-M processors. But there are two major new features:

1. The web app platform will be based on the Google Chrome browser rather than Mozilla Prism
2. There’s a new desktop mode designed for nettops and other computers with screens larger than 11 inches

The desktop mode makes a lot of sense, since there are plenty of nettops out there with the same guts as netbooks (Intel Atom processors, Windows XP or 7, integrated graphics or NVIDIA ION). But the move from Prism to Chrome for the web apps is a pretty big deal.

According to the folks at Jolicloud, this will lead to a faster browsing experience, more efficient memory use, and support for Chrome extensions in all web apps. It will also help performance on ARM-based netbooks and tablets.

The default web browser for Jolicloud is still Firefox. But the Chrome rendering engine will handle all the web apps you’ve “installed” on your system.

The new release will also be the first that the Jolicloud team says is compatible with 100% of the netbooks on the market with Intel processors. That includes systems with older Intel Celeron CPUs or the latest Atom Pine Trail chips as well as computers with NVIDIA ION graphics or Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerators.

Credit: PC Pro

Intel’s Pine Trail platform wasn’t designed to give netbooks a huge performance boost. For most day to day tasks, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between a netbook with an Atom N450 processor and GMA 3150 graphics and one with an older Atom N270 CPU and GMA 950 graphics. But there’s one thing that Pine Trail netbooks can do that older Atom powered mini-laptops can’t: handle 1080p HD video playback.

Surprised? Well, the truth of the matter is that most Pine Trail netbooks won’t do this out of the box. But it turns out that’s a software issue rather than a hardware one. The drivers that come with Windows 7 aren’t optimized for 1080p HD video playback. So while most videos with resolutions of 720p or lower will play back fine in Windows Media Player, you’re going to need to install some software if you want to be able to watch 1080p content without first transcoding it.

I’ve already told you that the latest version of the Jolicloud Linux-based operating system brings support for 1080p video in a variety of formats including MPEG4, DivX, and Xvid. And you don’t have to wipe Windows off of your hard drive in order to install Jolicloud. The operating system makes dual-boot setups pretty easy. But if you’d rather not have to reboot your netbook to watch a video, there is apparently another way.

The folks at PC Pro discovered that you can purchase CoreCodec’s CoreAVC codec for Windows for $9.95 in order to add support for 1080p AVC or H.264 video playback to a Windows netbook with a Pine Trail processor. The CoreAVC codec won’t work with every media player, but a safe bet is the free Media Player Classic Home Cinema.

Of course, while some netbooks have 720p, 1366 x 768 pixel displays, I don’t think we’re going to be seeing any 10 inch netbooks with native 1080p screens anytime soon. But if you have a large collection of 1080p videos that you’d like to be able to watch on the go without first transcoding them to a lower resolution format, Jolicloud and/or the CoreAVC codec may be the way to go.

via Slashdot

While there are plenty of folks working on netbook-specific operating systems (a la Google Chrome OS, Moblin Linux, and Eeebuntu), the Jolicloud team seems intent on ensuring that their OS works on every netbook in the known world. A few weeks ago the Jolicloud team announced it was working on support for netbooks with VIA C7-M and Intel Atom Pine Trail processors. Today Pine Trail support is official.

Current Jolicloud users can install the new version by performing a system update and rebooting their computers. New users can grab Jolicloud from the download page.

Jolicloud has added a number of new Pine Trail netbooks to its compatibility page, including the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3, Asus Eee PC 1005PE, MSI Wind U135, and HP Mini 210. Oh yeah, and one of the coolest features? Jolicloud now supports 1080p HD video playback on netbooks with Pine Trail processors.

Just when I’d gotten used to telling people that new Pine Trail netbooks were pretty much the on  par performance-wise with models with Atom N270/N280 processors, the folks at Jolicloud have gone and proven me wrong. Within the next week or so, they plan to push out a new version of the Jolicloud operating system that will add support for 1080p HD video playback on netbooks with the Intel Atom Pine Trail chipset.

The same update will bring improved support for notebooks with NVIDIA ION graphics, GMA 500 graphics, and VIA C7-M processors. But as far as the Pine Trail netbooks go, here’s the cheat sheet:

• 1080p HD video: DivX, Xvid, and most other MPEG4-based codecs should work… except for H.264
• 720p HD video: H.264 should play smoothly
• In order to play, you’ll need a netbook with an Atom N450 or N470 processor and integrated GMA 3150 graphics
• No external processor such as the Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator is needed

Unfortunately the new kernel will not be able to bring 1080p video support to netbooks with GMA 950 graphics. They’re just not up to the task.

Jolicloud founder Tariq Krim says the update will be available to Jolicloud users later this week or early next week. In the meantime, you can check out a video of the Samsung N220 netbook playing 1080p HD video after the break.

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The folks at Jolicloud are pretty serious about making sure that their netbook-centric operating system works on every mini-laptop on the market. The team already has an impressive list of compatible devices. And it’s about to grow longer.

Jolicloud posted a message on Twitter this morning indicating that the developers are working on compatibility with the VIA C7-M processor found in a handful of early netbooks such as the HP 2133 Mini-Note and Everex Cloudbook. Support for the Intel Atom Pine Trail chips found in many of the newest netbooks is also on its way.

Jolicloud is a Linux-based operating system that blurs the lines between desktop and web applications by allowing you to run web apps like Gmail, Google Docs, Twitter and Facebook as if they were desktop apps. You can also run some Windows applications using WINE, as well as native desktop applications including Boxee and Skype.

The eMachines Em250 first made a huge splash when Walmart offered the netbook for $228 the day after Christmas. That deal is done and gone, but the EM250 is still one of the cheapest mini-laptops around, with a price tag of about $280. A number of Liliputing readers have left feedback about the laptop, and most of it’s been pretty positive.

if you’re looking for a more detailed overview, YouTube member a1mega has posted an 8 minute video showing the netbook running Windows 7 Starter Edition as well as Jolicloud, a custom Linux distribution designed for netbooks.

The laptop has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and a 3 cell battery which should be good for 3-4 hours of run time. The keyboard looks decent, although the touchpad looks pretty small to me.

You can check out the video after the break.

via Netbook Reports

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After months of private alpha testing, the folks at Jolicloud have launched a public beta version of the netbook operating system called Jolicloud Express. In other words, anyone can download and install it now. You don’t need an invitation.

Jolicloud is a light weight Linux distribution that’s designed primarily to run web applications such as Gmail, Google Docs, Facebook, and Twitter. But unlike Google’s upcoming Chrome OS, Jolicloud is more than just a glorified web browser. It can also run native Linux applications such as OpenOffice.org, Boxee, and GIMP, which makes it pretty useful when you’re on an airplane or another location where you may not have an internet connection.

Jolicloud Express also has a new HTML5 program launcher, which you can see in the image above.

You can download and install Jolicloud on a Windows netbook, creating a dual boot system that gives you a choice of operating systems at boot.

via TechCrunch and Jolicloud Twitter feed

While I’m guessing this news has nothing to do with thre recent (and awesome) addition of QuakeLive to its ever-expanding stable of apps, ReadWriteWeb has pegged Jolicloud as one of the top web products of 2009.

They’re in pretty select company, too, earning a spot with the likes of Freshbooks, Spotify, and HootSuite.

RWW list Jolicloud’s easy access to both desktop and web-based apps, social features, and its attractive interface. Hey, let’s not forget about that rapid boot – which at 11 seconds is every bit as fast as Google Chrome OS.

Jolicloud might not have Google’s marketing clout or the giant Google fanboy base which Chrome OS is going to, but they can still put up a good fight. If Tariq Krim and company stick to their guns and respond to the community, Jolicloud could very well garner some mainstream success in the netbook OS business.

With any netbook OS, one main focal point is boot time. Just how long will this custom-tailored system take to go from powered off to a full menu of applications?

Chrome OS, of course, is eschewing everything local except the bare essentials. The Diet Chromium version I shared yesterday took about 15-20 seconds to boot an Acer AOD250. Can Jolicloud compete with that? Sure it can.

From the official Twitter account, their developers shared a video showing Jolicloud booting in 13 seconds on an Asus Eee PC 901. That’s a pretty respectable startup time, especially when you consider that Jolicloud will 1) include some local apps and 2) will run on a much broader range of hardware than Google Chrome OS.

Remember, Google’s ultimate vision is a three or four second boot time – that’s something which will be hard to accomplish if Chrome OS rolls driver support for a number of different display adapters, chipsets, and wireless NICs. If Jolicloud can shave a few more seconds from the 13 captured here, I think they’ll show everyone just how serious they are about being competitive.

Check the video after the break!

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