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.

Most netbooks ship with Windows 7 Starter Edition, rather than the more expensive Windows 7 Home Premium. And while at the core, these two operating systems are very similar, Microsoft has disabled some features in order to differentiate Windows 7 Starter from higher priced versions of the OS — and to convince some netbook customers to spend the money to upgrade.

But just because you can’t use the Windows 7 Personalization features to change your desktop background doesn’t mean there’s no way to do it.

Download Squad’s Lee Mathews spotted a free application called StarterBackgroundChanger that does just what the name implies — it lets you adjust the desktop background on Windows 7 Starter.

Unfortunately, while the program menus are in English, the installer is in French, so you might want to hit up Download Squad for step by step instructions on installing StarterBackgroundChanger, although the process really does look pretty simple.

Asus has pretty much stopped offering its netbooks and nettops with Linux preloaded. Instead, most of the company’s products come with Windows XP or Windows 7. But retailer Newegg is selling a first generation Asus Eee Box EB2020 nettop with Red Flag Linux, a Chinese Linux distribution that’s designed to look an awful lot like Windows XP.

The Eee Box with Red Flag Linux comes with 1GB of RAM, a 160Gb hard drive, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Ethernet, a mouse and keyboard, and a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor.

Newegg is selling the nettop for $219.99, but after a $30 mail-in rebate the price drops to $189.99 plus free shipping.

via Engadget

The Loongson processor isn’t exactly common in the west. But this CPU developed in China is likely to start showing up on a growing number of Chinese notebooks — not to mention the Emtec Gdium Liberty netbook. Right now, most Loongson-based notebooks run Linux. But China’s Lemote Technology is working on porting GOogle Android to run on the platform.

Yes, I know Android is based on Linux too, but it’s not exactly typical Linux distribution. It’s designed for smartphones and has its own software infrastructure which means it can’t run common Linux Apps such as OpenOffice.org or Firefox. But it does have a speedy Webkit-based web browser and a growing marketplace of applications, even if you typically don’t get access to the full Android Market unless you’re using Android on a smartphone.

Computer World reports that Lemote already has a demo version of Android that people with Loongson-powered netbooks can download to test.

MeeGo is the new Linux-based operating system borne out of the ashes merger of Moblin and Maemo. While the two groups merged just last month, the folks at SlashPhone are reporting that the first version of MeeGo will be available by the end of March.

The new build will be compatible with Intel Atom-powered netbooks as well as the Nokia N900 internet tablet which currently runs Maemo.

It’s not entirely clear what the new OS will look like, as a lot of the project is “still under discussion.” But it doesn’t sound like it will be long before talk turns to action.

Are you looking forward to seeing MeeGo? Or are you happy with your current netbook operating system choices?

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.

Back in 2008 when a significant percentage of netbooks were shipping with Linux rather than Windows, Linpus Linux Lite looked like a major player. Acer had tapped the folks at Linpus to design the OS for its first generation of 8.9 inch netbooks and the future was looking bright.

A year and a half later, more than 90% of netbooks are shipping with Windows XP or Windows 7 Starter Edition and Linux distributions such as Linpus and Xandros aren’t looking quite so exciting. Of course, that could change as smartbooks with ARM-based processors start to hit the market, since they’re not capable of running Windows.

Anyway, if you’ve been wondering what Linpus has been up to, jkkmobile caught up with the company at CeBIT this week and shot a video overview of the latest version of the Linpus Linux Lite netbook operating system.

The user interface has been overhauled, and it’s easier to customize the tab-based program launcher. On the right side of the screen are a series of tabs for things like “Games,” or “Internet.” Click on a tab, and you can add icons for favorite programs in each category. You can now create as many tabs as you’d like, and re-order them by dragging and dropping.

Honestly, I think the UI makes more sense for a touchscreen device than a netbook with a keyboard and touchpad. But maybe we’ll see Linpus on one of the 15,000 upcoming iPad competitors one day.

Video after the break.

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Ubuntu Netbook Edition is a version of the popular Ubuntu Linux operating system that’s been optimized to play well with netbooks with small screens and low power processors. So far the Ubuntu Netbook folks have focused primarily on machines with Intel Atom processors — which covers most of the netbooks currently on the market. But with a number of smartbooks with ARM-based processors poised to hit the streets soon, the folks behind Ubuntu Netbook Edition wanted to make sure the OS could support a wider range of hardware.

Ubuntu developer Jamie Bennett says the primary stumbling block was the fact that the Ubuntu Netbook user interface needed 3D hardware drivers, which aren’t necessarily available for all ARM-based chipsets at the moment. So they rewrote the user interface for the ARM version of Ubuntu Netbook Edition to use 2D Enlightenment Foundation Libraries instead of 3D hardware support to provide graphical effects.

The long and short of it is, that most users won’t be able to see a difference between the Ubuntu Netbook Edition user interface on an ARM or x86-based device. The changes will all be under the hood. As an added bonus, the EFL-based version of the program launcher is easier to theme than the current 3D program launcher.

via Slashdot

I normally stay away from covering smartphones at Liliputing. But when the smartphone in question is a tablet-sized device with an x86-based Intel Moorestown CPU, a huge display, and also happens to be one of the first devices slated to run the new MeeGo Linux operating system? Yeah, that warrants a mention.

Gearlog reports that the LG GW990 will be based on MeeGo. Right now the pre-release version of phone features a custom user interface on top of Moblin Linux, so it won’t be a huge stretch to move to MeeGo, which is basically what we’re going to have when the Moblin and Maemo folks finish combining their code.

There’s not much more information about the platform, but the GW990 is a rather unusual phone with a 4.8 inch, 1024 x 480 pixel display and an 1850mAh battery good for 4 hours of talk time.

via Engadget

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.