Developer March

OFF THE PRESS

Vodafone Re-launches 15 Dollar Phone for Developing Countries Vodafone is tapping emerging markets and developing markets with two...

deCarta Location-enables Opera Browsers Location-enabled services have shown dramatic growth in the past twelve...

MSI Intros SUSE Moblin Powered Netbook MSI has become the first original equipment manufacturer to sell a...

WHITE PAPERS

A Business Case for Using Adobe Flex and the Adobe Flash Platform RIA combines the goodness of instant Web access to centralized data to create...

Boost Game Performance With Threads This white paper explains how to use functional decomposition to get better...

Hot and Safe: a Beginner's Guide to Multithreaded Libraries Most of the discussion of multithreading that emerges from Cilk Arts is...

EXCLUSIVES

Jolicloud Alternative to Google Chrome OS

The first version of the netbook made an entry into the markets as early as 1998 with Apple’s eMate 300. The next generation netbooks used to ship with Windows XP pre-installed. This seriously impeded the performance of the netbook as they were not intended to run such heavy operating systems in the first place. Over time netbook manufacturers focused on delivering optimised web browsing and wireless Internet connectivity while still ensuring the processes that run on it are lightweight. Many versions of Linux operating systems emerged with the netbooks to cater to this purpose of basic, yet efficient, functionality. Moblin, Ubuntu Netbook Remix, Linux4One, Crunchee all quickly gained momentum as boot time, speed and ease of operation became the deciding factors for netbook operating systems. Eventually the cloud bug bit the netbook family as well and along came Google.

As netbooks with minimal processing capabilities and low storage options became the ideal vehicle for getting onto the cloud Google released the Chrome Operating System (OS) to tap the growing netbook user market. Chrome OS aims to fully leverage the Web to provide application and computation as services to its end users through an Internet browser – the first true cloud computing oriented operating system. The netbooks on which Google intends to preload Chrome will not come with any local storage option. Google has received its share of praises and brickbats for this move. Now a 12-man company is set to take on the corporate titan with a competing product – Jolicloud.

Jolicloud is part of the new wave of operating systems prepping the user to trade the desktop for an all-purpose Internet browser.

Jolicloud, out of its alpha phase and well in distribution through online downloads, has received some very promising reviews. It is based on the popular Ubuntu-based Linux OS for netbooks. The 600 MB installer ISO file is available for free download from the Jolicloud web site. It can be used as a standalone OS and also on a dual boot system with your resident operating system so you do not have to worry about abandoning your safe haven to try out this one.

The first obvious advantage over Chrome OS is Jolicloud's hybrid ability to merge and support both desktop applications and simultaneously reap all the benefits of cloud computing. Applications that need to be run on a native environment depending on the user’s preference can be accommodated on Jolicloud. For instance, currently if you want to watch the videos you record during your vacation itself on Chrome OS, you will have to mail it to yourself and then hope your Internet connection is fast enough for you to stream it through a player that Chrome provides you with. But Jolicloud allows you to install your favorite players on your system while providing players like VLC through the cloud. So Jolicloud is equipped with a higher degree of hardware compatibility and driver support for physical storage devices that Google has avoided entirely in Chrome.

The Jolicloud user interface is more dynamic and allows users to bookmark applications of their choice for quicker access. In comparison, Chrome’s current static interface does not allow the user to add any new applications and it promotes only a handful of Google’s web services. Jolicloud gives users access to Web 2.0 applications that are constantly updated and categorized for quicker search. The application directory includes desktop productivity tools like OpenOffice.org and other online applications.

When you install one of these applications is that Jolicloud uses Mozilla Prism to create a shortcut in your program launcher. When you launch the application, a single-window version of Firefox loads itself to give you quick access to your web applications. The end result is that you can load online applications like Twitter or Facebook just as easily as launching any other desktop application.

While Google relies almost entirely on Google Apps for the Chrome OS, Jolicloud makes use of third-party partner services like Dropbox to customize the user experience.

Jolicloud may not have access to huge marketing resources unlike Google who will go in for OEM hardware bundles with netbook manufacturers. But Jolicloud is already compatible with netbooks from Asus, Acer, Dell, Samsung, LG, Lenovo and Intel amongst others. There are talks it is negotiating partnerships with hardware manufacturers to ship their OS directly with devices.

It remains to be seen if Jolicloud can grab a large share of the suddenly crowded netbook OS market. Tariq Krim, founder of Jolicloud, who has fought Google successfully before with Netvibes (which competes with iGoogle), seems optimistic.

As of now, Jolicloud undeniably seems to be the more flexible the two operating systems. The user's verdict -- when the final versions of both OSs hit the market for public usage -- will be final.

VIDEOS

Interview with Sunil Rao, Head of Nokia Developer, India Sunil Rao is Head of Nokia Developer, India. He is responsible for evangelizing new technology platforms, strategy and growth opportunities with Nokia's third party developers to create a...

PODCAST&VIDEOS

Value for Money System Integration is Teleca�s Strategy Teleca is a supplier of software services for all industries where mobile and wireless solutions are used. The company offers world class operations and execution capability, both on-site...

Picking the Right Technology for Enterprise RIA We are entering an era of Rich Internet Applications (RIA), and many enterprise development managers are facing the dilemma - which way to go - remain with tried and true Java or .NET or...

Indie Game Development is Here to Stay, says Karthik Subramaniam Game development is heavily bound by huge capital investments by the game publisher. The term 'Indie' is commonly used in the game industry to represent a small team or an individual who...

Need More Developer Heroes for India, says Intel Over the last few years, the defining paradigm in computing performance has shifted inexorably from raw clock speed to parallel operations and energy efficiency. Saltmarch spoke to...

Plug-in to Rapid Development on WebLogic with Eclipse In this plenary talk, Dhiraj Bhandari of Oracle demonstrates FastSwap, an Eclipse Plug-in for faster iterative development. While the traditional JEE development cycle comprises of the...

Enhancing the Productivity of RAD Using Websphere Rational Application Developer (RAD) v7.5 is tightly integrated with WebSphere Application Server (WAS) to provide seamless development and deployment for complex web, Java EE and SOA...