MSI's AMD-Powered U210 up for pre-order

With no official press release in sight, the MSI Wind U210 AMD Neo-based netbook is now available stateside on pre-order. This diminutive ultra-portable packs quite a punch - offering a 12.1-inch LCD, 250GB HDD, 2GB RAM, a 6-cell battery providing up to five hours of run time and a weight of only 3.2 pounds (1.45kg).

The U210 is based on MSI’s Wind U200, but runs on an AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 1.6GHz CPU instead of an Intel CULV processor. This ultra-compact netbook also squeezes in an ATI Radeon X1250 GPU, a 16:9 HD WXGA display with 1366 x 768 resolution, WiFi b/g/n, an HDMI port and a 1.3-megapixel webcam.

Measuring just 7.4″ (18.8cm) x 11.7″ (29.7cm) x 1.2″ (3.05cm) the U210 isn’t quite as slim as MSI’s X600 Notebook we saw recently - but the width, depth and weight make for a very portable netbook indeed.

The MSI Wind U210 comes with Windows Vista Home Premium and is available now on pre-order in either white (U210-006US) or black (U210-008US) for a very reasonable $429.99 from Amazon.com.

From Ubuntu to Windows 7, All the best OS for Netbooks

Netbooks have become a hugely popular hardware category. So much so, that netbooks have in some cases started to outsell laptops, considering their low prices, excellent portability and web centric approach.

But these mini machines are a lot different from our usual ultra powered laptops and notebooks. They have different hardware set ups from their laptop congeners and thus have different software needs. Keeping in view their moderately powered processors, these netbooks may not be able to handle the elephant that Vista is, though they can pick the load of his brother that we know as XP. But using an OS that is specifically built for a netbook has its own aura.

We will tell you about these Operating Systems that your netbook will just love to spend its day and night with.

Moblin

Moblin is short for Mobile Desktop. It’s an open source project which aims to develop software for Mobile Internet Devices or, Netbooks and Nettops. Moblin is the brainchild of the people behind this initiative and Moblin.org. Built on a customized Linux build, it uses a tailor-made Gnome environment. It’s still in development, with V2.0 Beta already in the market. Targeting netbooks, Moblin is specifically designed for Intel Atom processors, that most netbooks are based on. With version 2, Moblin has brought an intuitive and easy to use user interface, built for a better media and social networking experience. It also sports a new graphical shell designed to provide the best experience on netbook devices and the likes. The bar placed on the top of the desktop holds different panels called ‘zones’. Each zone holds applications for different uses. Web surfing is handled by Moblin's self customized browser which is based on Mozilla’s Gecko engine. The media library can be browsed from the top bar from where a user can access music, videos and image gallery.

The connectivity can’t be ignored. With Moblin, you can easily create connections, whether Wifi, 3G, WiMax or a wired one. All of this is handled from the top panel. The home screen, that you see above, shows recent appointments and tasks. It also shows tabs of recently visited websites and messages from social media websites. Last.fm and twitter are supported till now and more should be added as Moblin progresses out of beta. Twitter is also integrated within the panel from where a user can quickly update his status. Moblin can be downloaded from here, although note that it is still in development and may cause some glitches.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix

Ubuntu Netbook Remix is simply a spin-off of the original Ubuntu, customized for Netbooks and similar devices. With Ubuntu at it’s heart, you will get the security, user friendliness and customization options that Ubuntu promises.

Specifically designed for netbooks, the Netbook Remix has an intuitive interface with large icons and buttons, making it easy to ‘tap on’ with fingers when the OS is used with a touchpad friendly monitor. The default install takes up nearly 2GB, clearly disappointing users with 2GB EEE PCs. But considering the netbooks that come these days, with large volume hard drives and SSDs, this won’t be a problem at all. It comes with most of the default Gnome applications. OpenOffice.org, Firefox, Evolution all come bundled and the Gnome Web cam app, Cheese is also packed which works out of the box. The current version is 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope. corresponding to the desktop release. It’s just another Ubuntu release (tuned up a bit though) and you should expect it to work like one. The Ubuntu Netbook Remix supports many popular netbook models like Asus Aspire One, Asus EEE 1000, 1000H, 900a & 901, Dell Mini 9 & 10v and a lot more.

Nokia Enters netBook Market with Booklet 3G mini-laptop

Nokia on Monday announced that it plans to move into the PC market with the introduction of its first netbook, the Nokia Booklet 3G.

The Windows-based device will be powered by an Intel Atom processor, and Nokia promises up to 12 hours of battery life. It features a 10-inch glass HD ready display, weighs about 2.75 pounds and is about 2 centimeters thick. The Booklet 3G will include 3G/HSPA and Wi-Fi connectivity options, an HDMI port for HD video out, a front facing camera for video calling, integrated Bluetooth, and an SD card reader.

The new netbook will also include integrated A-GPS, which will pinpoint a user's location using the Nokia Ovi Maps gadget for a "truly personal maps experience," Nokia said.

Nokia will incorporate other Ovi offerings into the Booklet 3G, including music through the Nokia Music Store, and the ability to sync your Nokia smartphone with your netbook via the Ovi Suite. Additional details about pricing and availability with be unveiled at Nokia World on September 2, the company said.

"A growing number of people want the computing power of a PC with the full benefits of mobility," Kai Oistamo, Nokia's executive vice president for devices, said in a statment. "We are in the business of connecting people and the Nokia Booklet 3G is a natural evolution for us. We will make the personal computer more social, more helpful and more personal."

Earlier this month, Microsoft and Nokia on Wednesday announced an alliance that will bring Microsoft mobile software to Nokia devices at some point next year. (story Link)

Apple Tablet to be available this September

Apple has always managed to keep a lot of things secret around its campus but what really isn't a secret anymore is the fact that Apple will be launching a Tablet soon.

Even though Apple has previously denied that it would ever be planning to enter the Netbook market, it still doesn't keep us away from thinking that Apple is probably working on something more catchy and innovative, that would eventually turn out to be a Tablet media device.

According to 9to5mac, the new Apple Tablet device may have already been previewed by an un-named analyst and that he predicts for it to be announced by Apple at an event somewhere in September.

The un-named analyst has also suggested that the Tablet device will be shipped in November, for a price of around $700-$800 and will focus on experiences such as Movies, E-book reading and Gaming. (with Thanks)

Hands On with the Thin Dell Inspiron 11z

What does the "z" in the Dell Inspiron 11z stand for? Z-height, and Dell's intent to create the absolute thinnest laptop available for that screen size.

And, as the name suggests, the 11z has an 11.6-inch widescreen and is the first Inspiron laptop to bear the "z" moniker (the "z" parade started with the Dell Studio 14z). Note that it doesn't have the "Mini" brand: Dell is not calling this a netbook, even though 11-inch netbooks like the Asus eeePC 1101HA and the Acer Aspire One A0751h are already shipping. The 11z's biggest differentiator is that it runs a 1.2-GHz, Intel Ultra Low Voltage Celeron processor instead of the more commonly found Atom. Everything else, however, smells like a netbook.

Like all Dell Inspiron models, the 11z can be customized with up to 7 colors; the one we played with was draped in Alpine White. The 11z is slightly wider than the Inspiron Mini 10v and almost as thin. It weighs about 3 pounds with a 3-cell battery (a 6-cell will be offered at a later date), which is slightly heavier than the 1101HA and the A0751h, whose frames include 6-cell batteries at about the same weight.

The best part about an 11.6-inch widescreen is that you don't have to suffer the 1,024-by-600 resolutions found in 10-inch netbooks like the Toshiba mini NB205 and the Mini 10v; the 11z, like the A0751h and the 1101HA, has a 1,366-by-768 resolution. Its keyboard, unfortunately, is not full sized like that of the A0751h. At 92 percent of full size, it delivers a typing experience touch typists can adjust to, though, similar to the 92-percent ones found in the 10v and the 1101HA. The large touchpad is like that of the 10v, in which the mouse buttons are concealed within it.

Feature-wise, it has what the 1101HA and the A0751h lack: an HDMI-Out port. This handy port allows you to stream all those downloaded videos to an HDTV (or larger display) that supports the format. It also comes standard with a 250-Gbyte spinning hard drive, which is impressive when most netbooks standardize on 160 GB. Otherwise, the three USB ports, Ethernet, and a media card reader are consistent with those of a netbook. (full Story)

Acer Aspire One D150 Netbook

Netbooks are becoming quite popular among those who go online most of the time. Netbooks provide the means for some people who use such gadgets to browse the Web without having to shell out a lot of cash. Netbooks such as the Acer Aspire One D150 surely makes the point clearly.

The Acer Aspire One D150 netbook is designed with a frequent Web user in mind, especially the one that's always mobile. It is provided with features mostly required to make the online experience more convenient and portable. It is equipped with a 10.1" display which allows more than a convenient browsing experience for such a portable device.

Its Intel Atom N270 1.60 GHz processor provides enough computing power for browsing the Web. Add in a 1GB DDR2 533 SDRAM memory, integrated digital microphone, stereo speakers, a 160 GB hard drive, WLAN capabilities,  multi-card reader and webcam, you then have for yourself an all-in-one Netbook that provides all the Web browsing capabilities that you need. And just weighing under three pounds and costing just around US$330, it certainly is quite a handy and affordable device to bring along. (story Link)

10 Questions for Google's New Chrome OS

Google’s not-so-surprising announcement that it would launch an operating system, the Google Chrome OS, in 2010 was full of heady promises, but painfully lacking in detail. Naturally, I have some questions for Google.

1. Why Do We Need This?
Consumers like variety, but stress levels tend to rise when there are too many technology options. I think this is mostly because each platform has its own metaphors. And while some may tell users that this operating system is better than that one, most users are too scared to switch because they don't know if they can learn to use a new OS. Google, however, is applying the same thinking it used when the search giant launched the Chrome Web browser: We can do it better. They did build a super-fast Web interface, but Chrome still lacks many of the basic features we've come to expect from a good browser. Will a Chrome OS have similar gaping holes?

2. Hardware Support?
Google's blog post on the new Chrome OS seems to gloss over hardware support. "[Users] don't want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware." In other words, the Chrome OS should work seamlessly with all of the peripherals you currently use. But why is that? The OS is being built on a Linux kernel, which means that while driver support is decent, it's not foolproof. Will Google work with OEMs to have a rich set of drivers available within the OS? Will you have to download all the drivers you need for your existing hardware? How will they ease the process of installation?

3. Linux? Really?
I know I've said this before, but why do people keep going back to Linux as the best alternative to Windows? There are excellent Linux distros out there, such as Ubuntu, but none of them are quite as easy to use as Windows or the Mac OS. More importantly, two years of Vista did not create a new user bonanza for the Linux platform. It didn't even do all that much for the Mac OS. Instead, Windows users suffered but stayed put. Now many feel like they're about to be rewarded for their patience with Windows 7. Look at it this way: When gas prices soared to record highs, people did drive less and they even traded in their Hummers for Hyundais. What they didn't do is rush to hybrid vehicles. I know there are more of them on the road than ever before, but they are far outnumbered by traditional gas-guzzlers. Face it, the tried and trusted (Windows) seems to stick around even when better alternatives are available.

4. What About Android?
Android is a decent little mobile operating system, and it may even do a good job of powering a new generation of netbooks—I'm still waiting to see the first one—but it hasn't exactly taken its primary market by storm. In fact, it's taken almost a year for the second Android-based phone to arrive. I don't know what caused the holdup. Perhaps it's the same problem that Linux has: consumers have found the mobile platforms they really prefer and aren't interviewing any others.

5. Which OEMs?
Most major PC manufacturers have offered Linux boxes at one time or another, but they don't push them. There are no ad campaigns out there, and they're typically not featured on, say, Dell's homepage. Google certainly has the clout to get into the offices of Acer, Dell, and HP, but how receptive are these companies to Google's platform overtures? Like the rest of us, they've suffered through a bad 2008 and a dismal 2009. Would they really want to risk precious marketing dollars on an untested platform? All are gearing up for Microsoft's Windows 7 push (which kicks off in earnest on October 22). It's the closest thing these manufacturers have to a sure thing. The Chrome OS has risk written all over it.

6. Can We Trust Open Source?
The open source community is brilliant at building out new OS features, but it also tends to fracture. Does anyone know how many different Linux distributions exist? Can Google depend on the open source community to put the interests of the lowest common denominator first?

7. Will the OS Be in Beta?
Okay, I'm asking this one somewhat facetiously. Google officially grew up this week when it pulled most of its major apps and services out of Beta. I'd say it's no coincidence that it did this right before the Google Chrome OS announcement. The ever-present "beta" tag on many of the company's products made it seem somewhat less than serious about software. The company can't afford that perception now.

8. Is Chrome Chrome?
One thing that isn't clear is whether the Chrome OS desktop is actually going to be a brand new interface, with new code, or if the whole thing is simply a rejiggering of the Chrome Web browser with a Linux kernel underneath. Google's blog post makes it sound more like the latter. That could be kind of cool; you get things like tear off tabs and an incredibly lean, speedy interface. On the other hand, how does it handle tasks and applications, navigation, file storage, networking? Does that all get passed off to the Linux platform?

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Netbook vs Laptop Performance

It's safe to say that netbooks are here to stay, and they could even come to dominate the laptop landscape in a couple of years. Since their humble beginnings as cheap laptops that could be used to surf the Web, compose e-mails, do light office tasks, and play music or videos but not much more, they are evolving into more substantial machines. Set against their low price and portability are limitations such as screen and keyboard size, and lack of a built-in optical drive. But perhaps the biggest differentiator between netbooks and other laptops is performance. We know netbooks can easily handle the sort of basic tasks I mention above, but how do they do at more rigorous tasks such as resizing photos, transcoding videos, or ripping an audio CD? And how do they stack up against mainstream laptops?

First, I'll say a few words about netbook limitations other than performance. We know that the small screens (most less than 12 inches), lack of optical drive, and constricted keyboard influence price (and buying decisions), but we'll keep our focus here on performance, which for many users is paramount.

Key to the performance of any PC, netbook or otherwise, are its processing parts. The vast majority of netbooks (including the two we'll focus on here) run on an Intel Atom processor, a small percentage use VIA processors, and a scant few with processors from Texas Instruments and ARM have trickled out. Netbooks typically ship with 1GB of memory, while bigger laptops are standardizing at 3GB and 4GB now. And let's not forget that graphics components and hard drives can influence the performance of a netbook.

Performance-wise, netbooks are configured with very few differentiating features between them. But how do they fare against other laptops that cost a little more, run faster processors, and pile on memory? Is improved performance commensurate with the increase in price? Well, we took two netbooks—the Acer Aspire One (10-inch) and the Dell Inspiron Mini 12, which cost $350 and $500, respectively—and compared them with mainstream laptops that aren't outrageously expensive (ranging from $700 to $1,300) but cost considerably more than your average netbook. —Next: How We Tested >

Is Windows 7 Starter really just Windows 7 Trial Version?

Some comments in our article and forums about the possibility of a Windows 7 Starter $200 netbook inspired me to take a deeper look into the issue. If Windows 7 Starter is keeping companies from pushing out $200 netbooks, then why aren’t free Linux alternatives already doing so? Although Linux has zero costs when it comes to licensing and code, there are still a few other expenses OEMs have to cover when building a Linux system:

• Testing and creating drivers
• Hiring and training staff that are ready to work on Linux and provide tech-support
• Costs in repackaging due to the increased return rate on Linux machines

There are many other factors I didn’t list but these three points give you an idea of why Linux netbooks aren’t cheaper than they are. If Linux netbooks are still in the $300 range and Windows says they can offer a $200 netbook, how much are they actually charging vendors for Windows 7 Starter? What if Windows 7 Starter is really a cloak for what is actually Windows 7 Trial Version?

The possibility of that being true isn’t unrealistic. If you think about it, Starter contains a few inconvenient restrictions that draw away from the complete Windows experience, particularly the inability to have three simultaneous applications open.

One of Windows 7 Starter's restrictions include the inability to change your wallpaper

What saves Microsoft from being bashed upon for these restrictions is their Windows Anytime Upgrade (WAU) program, which allows a user to upgrade to a higher-level version of Windows at any time. As bad as many of us think Starter can be, there’s virtually no risk in purchasing a Starter-equipped machine at all. Seeing that Starter is the cheapest version of Windows you can ever put on a computer, why wouldn’t OEMs be willing to put it on their machines. It would allow OEMs to have much lower list prices and WAU would reduce the fear of customers of not being satisfied with Starter. This begs the question of whether Microsoft really intended for you to stay on Starter permanently. Let’s take a look at a possible scenario:

1. You walk into the store to look for a cheap and affordable laptop
2. The cheapest laptop is $200 and has Windows 7 Starter. You can upgrade any time so there’s no risk, why not buy it?
3. After a couple of days on your netbook, you’re about to explode after the 100th notification from Windows telling you need to keep the app-count to less than three
4. You want to upgrade. The price is less than the laptop but it might be more than what you want to pay. You’ve already got a laptop but you’re not completely satisfied, so you opt for the upgrade

If you haven’t spotted it yet, the trick being used here is upselling. After being stuck with a Starter netbook you’ve purchased because if was “no-risk” and cheap, you now want to upgrade. People are also more likely to go through small changes or make smaller transactions than large ones. Meaning that most people are probably more likely to upgrade to Home Premium or a higher edition like Microsoft originally planned to. (story Link)

9 Ways How Windows 7 Will Save Battery Life

Microsoft recently released a new 14-page whitepaper entitled “Windows 7 Power Management” to outline the power management technologies in Windows 7 that reduce power consumption. For those curious as to how exactly Windows 7 will use less power, this is your answer. For those who just want the quick scoop, here are 8 different ways how Windows 7 mainly save battery life:

9 Ways How Windows 7 Will Save Battery Life
1) Idle Resource Utilization

This is one of the most important power management technologies because idle time is a significant portion of the time a computer is turned on. Idle efficiency in Windows 7 is improved by reducing resource utilization and enabling hardware to go into lower power states during long periods of inactivity. This includes the processor, disk, memory, and network activity on the computer. To demonstrate just how much power can be saved, CPUs consume nearly 0 watts when idle, but up to 35 watts at full power.
2) Trigger Start Services

Services were usually started automatically right after startup and would run in the background waiting for an event to occur. In Windows 7, certain services are only started when triggered by an event such as device insertion or an IP change. This makes it unnecessary to have services starting all the time and reduces the amount of background processes.
3) Enhanced Processor Power Management

Windows 7 will include device driver support for the latest PPM technologies. PPM allows Windows 7 to choose the appropriate processor performance state depending on the load and scale performance accordingly.
4) Adaptive Display Brightness

Microsoft says that the average display is set to turn off after 10-15 minutes of inactivity. Often times however, there are shorter periods of inactivity in between. To save additional power, ADB defines will allow dimming the display. ADB can also utilize hardware sensor technology to adjust display brightness accordingly to ambient light.
5) Low-Power Audio

Windows 7 will support the latest Intel HD Audio low-power specification, which introduces a new power state known as D3Cold. This is the lowest unresponsive power state that a codec can go into. It can also further conserve power when an audio device is not in use. Windows 7 also supports selective suspend technology that extends to USB audio-class devices such as microphones and web-cams.
6) Timer Coalescing

Modern processors reduce power consumption by taking advantage of idle time between executing instructions, but many PPM technologies require a minimum amount of idle time before obtaining any net-power savings. Timer Coalescing increases the average idle period by letting the Windows kernel combine periodic software activity.

Additionally, Windows 7 will defer non-critical background activity when the user is on a battery-powered setup (netbook or notebook).
7) Bluetooth Power Improvements

Windows 7 will enable a state of “selective suspend” when it detects that a Bluetooth device has entered a low-power state.
8. Networking Power Improvements

Network adapters enter a lower-power state (known as D3) if supported by the adapter and driver whenever a network cable is removed. Low-power mode capability for wireless network controllers has been improved. Low-power mode is only entered if the access point supports it. Vista was unable to detect if the mode was supported and would cause computers to suddenly disconnect from the wireless network. Windows 7 will detect compatibility before entering the low-power mode.
9) Optimizations to key user scenarios

In addition to the improvements listed above, Microsoft also looked at specific key scenarios they could optimize including search, Internet browsing, and casual gaming. Here is an example of some of the optimizations made to a DVD Playback scenario:

* The ability for the CPU to stay in lower performance states without affecting playback performance
* Improvement of the Desktop Windows Manager (DWM) and Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) utilization through architectural changes
* Smart data caching that allow optical disk drive spin-down

These are the nine key ways Windows 7’s power management will improve, saving a lot more battery life than its predecessors on portable computing. In addition to these great improvements are power-management diagnostics to help IT pros determine problems that may be affecting power efficiency. For full technical info and additional resources, click here to check out Microsoft’s site to download the whitepaper. (story Link)

HP EliteBook Notebook Series – All Muscle No Fat

HP India has announced the launch of its HP EliteBook Notebook PC series designed for the style-conscious corporate mobile professional.
Launched in a gym to reiterate the ruggedness of this series that is inspired by aircraft construction, these notebooks adorn military-standard durability, which is designed to be business-rugged withstanding dust, vibration, altitude and high temperature.

The HP EliteBook series comprises a total of six premium business notebooks - 2530p, 2730p, 6930p, 8530p, 8730w and 8530w - encompassing the professional (p) and mobile workstation (w) class notebooks series.
"HP EliteBook's sleek, innovative designs combine a sophisticated look with durability, thus aligning to the evolving mobile work environment," said Anurag Arora, Country Manager – Business Notebooks, Personal Systems Group, HP. "Furthermore, HP has incorporated the right amalgam of hardware and software features to deliver a dependable business notebook PC that delivers enhanced security & improved ease of use in a stylish new package." (story Link)

Verizon Plans to Sell Netbooks

Verizon Wireless will start selling a netbook - a cheaper, more basic version of a notebook - as early as next quarter, Bloomberg said, citing a person close to the project.
The devices are being developed with more than one PC maker, the news agency cited the person as saying. Price and plan details aren't complete, the person told the news agency. Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon Communications Inc and Britain's Vodafone Group Plc, competes with AT&T and Sprint Nextel in the wireless carrier market. Verizon Wireless and AT&T see devices used mainly for data rather than voice as the next phase of wireless growth as the vast majority of the U.S. population owns mobile phones. (Story Link)

Windows XP to compete with Win 7 in netbook market

Microsoft will continue to offer Windows XP for netbooks even after it starts selling Windows 7 for the inexpensive subnotebooks, a company executive has revealed.

Neil Holloway, Microsoft International's vice president of business strategy, told ZDNet UK on Thursday that the company expected Windows 7 to be more popular than XP. However, Microsoft will ultimately decide which operating system it will offer for netbooks depending on customer preference, he said.

"Let's see what the market does," Holloway said at Microsoft's Growth and Innovation Day in Brussels. "As we introduce Windows 7 for netbooks, the availability of XP will be less and less. I think, on this one, the market will decide on Windows 7."

The unanticipated success of the netbook market over the past year-and-a-half has forced Microsoft to repeatedly postpone the retirement of Windows XP, mainly because its newer Vista operating system was too processor-hungry to run on the devices.

Holloway's comments suggest that Microsoft will delay the demise of XP even longer. That will effectively bring the ageing operating system into competition with the upcoming Windows 7 Starter Edition, which is aimed explicitly at netbooks and is expected to arrive around the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010.

Although Windows 7 is built on the same underlying architecture as Windows Vista, Microsoft has repeatedly stated that the upcoming operating system is more lightweight than Vista and therefore more suited to netbook use.

Last month, Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer said people who buy a netbook with the Starter Edition of Windows 7 will be offered the opportunity to trade up to a more fully featured version of that operating system. Holloway confirmed that this would happen.

"You could have a low-end [Windows 7] netbook or a high-end netbook," Holloway said. "The question is, do you have reduced Windows 7, or the next level up, with more functionality?"

Holloway compared it to the situation with Vista: people will be able to select the version of Windows 7 that suits them, in the same way they can choose the Home Basic edition of Vista rather than the Ultimate edition, depending on their computing need. He added, however, that the offer of a choice of versions of Windows 7 will depend on the outcome of Microsoft's licensing negotiations with netbook manufacturers. (story Link)

Installing Mac OS X on a Dell Mini 9

If you’re looking to get a notebook to install Mac OS X on, I recommend the Dell Mini 9. It’s one of the best, no-compromises platforms according to the BoingBoing compatibility chart for netbooks running OS X and one can be yours for around $400 depending on the options that you choose.

In this post I’m going to detail the easiest way to install Mac OS X on the Dell Mini 9. This tutorial borrows heavily from John Mahoney’s excellent piece on Gizmodo, which in turn is based on a tutorial on the MyDellMini forums by “bmaltais” — and both deserve high praise. Refer back to Mahoney’s piece on Gizmodo if you run into problems and if you really get into a bind you’ll have to refer to the MyDellMini forums for help.

A note about Hackintoshing: Apple doesn’t like it and may send the black helicopters from Cupertino to visit you if you follow the instructions after the jump. If you end up in Gitmo for installing OS X on non-Apple hardware, please let me know so that I can blog about it.

Note: I’ve separately posted a photo gallery of the process.

Prerequisites:

• Dell Mini 9 with 16GB SSD (around $400)
• A retail copy of Mac OS X ($129) not an OEM/bundled/upgrade version
• An external USB DVD drive ($50) or Blu-Ray ($99)
• About 8 hours (albeit mostly unattended)

Mahoney’s tutorial for Gizmodo walks through installing Mac OS X on a USB Flash drive, which is overkill IMHO. Do yourself a favor and invest in an external USB DVD drive as it saves about eight steps over the “Mahoney method.” I opted for the slimline Blu-Ray drive from FastMac which costs$100 for the Blu-Ray reader, $300 for the 1x writer, $400 for the 4x writer.If you don’t want to purchase a USB optical drive you can also use a high-capacity (8GB+) flash drive as outlined in the Mahoney Method, but it will take a longer.

STEP 1
Download the  “Type11″ bootloader DellMiniBoot123v8.01.iso.zip unzip it and burn the resulting .iso to a standard CD-R using Apple’s Disk Utility. If the download link eventually breaks, search for the file name on the MyDellMini forums.

STEP 2
Connect your external DVD drive to your Mini 9 and power it on and press 0 (zero) at startup to bring up the list of bootable devices.

STEP 3
Choose optical/DVD from the list (it should be the second choice) and you’ll end up a command prompt that says “boot:”

STEP 4
Take out the bootloader disk and put in your retail Mac OS X install DVD, keeping the Mini 9 running. Press Escape at the boot: prompt to bring up the drive options. Then type “9f” (minus the quotes) then press Enter. (”9f” is the hex code for the external DVD, “80″ is hex for the primary internal SSD. )

Tip: Give it some time. Mine took two plus minutes for the OS X DVD to boot. I got a weird EBIOS error but it eventually booted from the OS X DVD. If it never boots from the DVD drive, you may have to go the Flash drive route outlined in the Mahoney Method.

Note: While you’re installing Mac OS X, the screen will be stretched to 800×600 rather than your Mini’s native 1024×600 resolution. This is normal and will be fixed later.

STEP 5
Before running the Mac OS X installer you need to format your SSD via Disk Utility. Create a single Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) partition, go to Options and select GUID Partition Table. Then click Apply. The 16GB SSD nets about 13 usable GB

STEP 6
Go back to the Installer and install OS X to the SSD. Click Customize and uncheck as many options as possible to save space on the SSD. I turned off everything except the printer drivers for my specific printers. The install will take about 47 minutes to an hour, so go talk to your family, they miss you. If you come back to an Install Failed error message at the very end don’t panic. It’s normal.

STEP 7
Swap discs and boot back into the Type11 bootloader by holding down the zero key at boot and choosing the optical drive. At the boot: prompt hitEscape and type “80” to boot from SSD, press Enter. Back at the boot: prompt, type “-f” and hit Enter again to boot. This will load all of OS X’s kernel extensions (.kexts) to enable things like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the webcam. Mac OS X will boot and it’ll walk you through the typical OS X setup process.

STEP 8
Time to clean house. After a base 10.5.1 install I had used 11.4 of the available 13GB on the SSD. In order to make room for the base 10.5.6 update (which needs a minimum of 4.9GB) I trashed a bunch of apps I knew I wouldn’t run on the Mini 9 (AppleScript, Automator, Chess, Front Row, Image Capture, PhotoBooth, etc.) then I ran Monolingual and removed every available Language, Input Menu, and all the unwanted PPC code using the Achitectures tab.

STEP 8
Run Software Update and install the 10.5.6 Update, again you need about 4.9GB free for the base update and about 6.0GB free for the corresponding QuickTime, iTunes and AirPort updates. I installed just the base 10.5.6 update first then I installed the other updates.

Note: The 10.5.6 update takes about two hours to download and another two hours to “Install and Shutdown.” Again, talk to your family.

Tip: My Mini 9 got a little weird during the long installs with no user interaction. When I came back to check on the install, the screen was frozen in time, still saying 47 minutes remaining for example. But after a few clicks and waiting upwards of 3-4 minutes the screen would suddenly refresh and the Restart button would suddenly appear. Do not force quit or power down in this scenario. Be patient, young jedi. Click around and press Enter a few times and the screen should eventually refresh.

STEP 9
Boot into the Type11 bootloader one last time by press zero at boot. At the boot: prompt hit Escape and type “80” to boot from SSD. In OS X navigate to the DellMini9Utils folder on the Type11 CD and run the DellEFI installer. This will load all of the Mini 9 .kexts and drivers as well as a special bootloader to boot your SSD install. Do the default install and resist the urge to check the two unchecked options.

STEP 10
Reboot one final time, this time directly off of your SSD and enjoy the glorious 1024×600 resolution!

OPTIONS

• The “AboutThisMac.pkg” inside the Type11 utilities folder on your bootloader CD fixes the “Unknown Processor” bug in the About This Mac window, replacing it with the proper “Atom 1.6GHz” designation.
• While you’re at, do a Get Info on the DellEFI Installer application, click on the cool Mini 9/Leopard icon and copy and paste it to be your SSD icon. Much better!
• This trick fools oversized windows into shrinking to better fit the Mini 9’s 1024*600 screen.
• This trick can enable some multitouch features (i.e. scrolling) on the Mini 9’s Synaptics touchpad.
• This trick will enable mobile broadband – if your Mini 9 has it (mine doesn’t).
• The MyDellMini forums are your friend. Register for an account and search there if you run into any problems.

Congratulations, you did it! You’re now rocking the best netbook in town.

As always, I encourage you to post your experiences in the TalkBack below.

Update: Life’s not all peaches and cream in netbook-ville. It’s not a Mac, so don’t expect it to act 100% like a Mac from Cupertino. For example, my Mini 9 is currently having narcolepsy issues. It will often go to permanent sleep requiring a power cycle to bring things back. Sleep in general appears to be a little flakey, so beware. Also when booting/rebooting you need to see the grey Apple screen with the spinning wheel below it. No spinning wheel, no boot. Try again.

Update 2: I got 2.5 hours of battery life running an iTunes music stream over Wi-Fi with the visualizer on and display sleep set to Never. I’m pretty confident that 3+ hours of run time is attainable with minor conservation. The Mini 9’s battery takes about two hours to fully re-charge.  (story Link with Thanks)

Battle for Best High-End Mac OS X netBook

I’ve been busy installing OS X on the Dell Mini 9 (CNet review) and fellow podcaster Rob Parker prefers the Acer Aspire One (review) but guest blogger Bob DeGrande thinks that the Asus 901 (review) and MSI Wind(review) make better high-end Mac OS X netbooks.

I think there is a better deal on a Linux netbook at the moment. The Asus 901is a high end netbook.  It normally sells in the $360-380 range, but there is a $100 rebate going on through early March, bringing it into the same price range as the Aspire.

It has excellent features - a 1.3MP webcam, Bluetooth, 6-cell battery, 20GB of SSD in the Linux version, and a Synaptic touchpad which supports two finger scrolling like a MacBook. The Asus 901 network card identifies itself internally as a gigabit card (even though the specs say 10/100) and it also has 802.11n wireless (most others only have b/g).

I have some experience running OS X on a netbook (I have a legal license). I use the MSI Wind. I have upgraded to 2GB RAM, a 7200 RPM 320GB hard drive, and a 9 cell battery.  It’s still under 3 lbs., and this machine runs OS X well - I load up Spaces with Tweetdeck, Firefox, Mail, and iTunes, and I have no problem running additional applications without slowing down.

Time Machine works, including using Migration Assistant to move apps from an existing Time Machine backup by USB.  There are some minor issues, I have to run a program to switch between speaker and headphones and there is a program that runs at startup to connect to Wi-Fi, but that is automatic. I am also dual booting XP, as I have a digital TV USB stick that only works with Windows.

BoingBoing has recently updated their compatibility chart for netbooks running OS X. What’s your favorite netbook for running Mac OS X? (story Link)

Windows 7 broadband bundles

Speaking to ZDNet UK at Microsoft's Growth and Innovation Day in Brussels on Thursday, Neil Holloway, vice president for business strategy at Microsoft International, said the company was in talks with telecoms companies and other service providers to work out how netbooks running Windows 7 could be bundled with other hardware and services, in order to increase market reach.

"Microsoft is working with telcos as a specific channel," said Holloway. "The way that Carphone Warehouse bundles phones, PCs and laptops is phenomenal. We will do something slightly similar, and make some offer which includes Windows 7 and Windows Live."

Holloway added that "netbooks are here to stay", and reiterated Microsoft's announcement from February that it is developing a pared-down version of the Windows operating system for use on netbooks.

Because of their inherent mobility, netbooks have become a standard offering from most mobile operators, who are keen to extend usage of their 3G networks.

Although the cheap subnotebooks started life as Linux-bearing machines, Windows XP is now the dominant operating system on netbooks — partly because Microsoft dropped its XP prices to encourage uptake among netbook manufacturers, and partly because of customers' familiarity with the OS.

Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer recently said that the Windows 7 Starter Edition aimed at netbooks would be made available "at the current Windows XP price point".

This article was originally posted on ZDNet.co.uk.

Review: Samsung NC10-14GB

From cell phones to HDTVs, Samsung products have successfully found their way into American homes for the past decade. But the company hasn't made much headway with its laptops, and for good reason: The laptops have only recently started selling in the United States. Samsung needed a strategy that would jump-start its laptop presence. A netbook was the obvious choice, as this category is taking the market by storm. The Samsung NC10-14GB ($480 street) is a lot like every other netbook, but it has a few small advantages. It comes with a six-cell battery instead of a puny three-cell, and the keyboard is a tiny bit (1 percent) bigger than those of the MSI Wind and the HP Mini 1000. Ultimately, though, it loses out on price: The MSI Wind is a lower-priced package for now (by about $50, which in the netbook category is significant).

The white exterior of the ASUS EeePC 4G, once thought of as sleek and sexy, has been copied over and over for other netbooks like the Wind, the Acer Aspire One, and the Lenovo IdeaPad S10. Splashed in navy blue, the NC10 is neither bland nor head-turning. The HP 1000's embedded patterns and the metallic lid of the ASUS EeePC 1002HA are taking netbook designs to another level, and the trend won't stop with them. At 10.3 by 7.3 by 1 inches, the NC10's dimensions practically identical to those of the ASUS EeePC 1002HA. The HP Mini 1000 (10.3 by 6.6 by 0.9 inches) and the Lenovo S10 (9.8 by 7.3 by 0.9 inches) are slightly thinner and smaller. At 2.9 pounds, the NC10's frame seems heavy, but once you factor in the standard six-cell battery, its weight is actually on a par with its 10-inch counterparts.

By 10-inch, I mean the size of the widescreen. Netbooks like the Acer Aspire One (2.1 pounds), the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 (2.3 pounds), and the ASUS EeePC 900 (2.2 pounds) are noticeably lighter because they have smaller 8.9-inch widescreens. The viewing experience is obviously better with a bigger screen, but the 1,024-by-600 resolution is the same across the board. The NC10's brightness and contrast levels are consistent with those of other 10-inch netbooks and make for pleasant viewing. Its 93 percent keyboard is 1 percent larger than those found on the Mini 1000 and the MSI Wind—not a huge difference, although the keys are noticeably bigger and the typing experience better. Consequently, the touchpad is minuscule compared with those of the EeePC 1002HA and the Wind, resulting in a tighter pinch when using your thumb and index fingers to navigate.

The NC10's features are consistent with those of other top-rated netbooks. It comes with three USB ports, a VGA-out, an Ethernet port, and an SD slot. Lenovo opted to forgo a USB port in its S10 to make room for an ExpressCard slot, which is a handy addition for expansion devices that enable 3G wireless services and other specialty ports. Both the HP 1000 and the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 have 3G wireless built in, simplifying things even further. A 160GB hard drive is included and appears to be the capacity that everyone is settling on. By next year, you'll see netbook hard drive capacities standardized at 320GB.

The NC10 contains the same parts as every netbook. Its 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270 processor and 1GB of memory are no surprise. The same could be said about the integrated graphics. The ASUS N10Jc-A1 is an exception, a netbook that utilizes two sets of graphics chipsets to its advantage—one for 3D work and another to save battery life. The NC10's SYSmark 2007 Overall score topped the Wind's by a point, though you wouldn't notice it in real-world applications. The NC10 was a bit slower on video-encoding tests, trailing the others in the comparison by at least 2 seconds. (full Story)

Might Just Change Microsoft’s Luck : Windows 7

Let us cut to the chase. Will the next iteration of Microsoft’s dominant operating system be any good? After spending a couple of weeks playing around with the beta version of the software, our verdict is that yes, it will be. But why? Windows Vista was a marketing and public relations disaster.

Vista, which was code-named Longhorn , was delayed by over a year and many people who bought machines with the Vista Capable logo on it were horrified to see that Windows Vista barely managed to work on their hardware when they upgraded from Windows XP.

It must be understood that Vista was the first operating system the Redmond-based behemoth launched after the advent of social media blogs, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Digg and the like. Technology blogs and websites took no time in shredding Vista.

But the fact is, if you have a new computer (with dual-core processor and at least two gigabytes of memory), and not a Netbook, Vista works quite well. The integrated search function on Vista is brilliant if you, like most people, have files spread all across your computer.

Windows 7 Versions: The Five Most Interesting Things

Because software analyst Michael Muchmore is on vacation, I volunteered to write the news story covering the new Windows 7 versions, as well as a followup FAQ presenting as many details as possible that should be up later on Wednesday.

I think what we have so far is pretty comprehensive. However, I'm writing this blog post to highlight what I consider to be the newsiest, most interesting, and unexpected tidbits of information I found while researching both stories.

1.) Netbooks will run any flavor of Windows 7. Any flavor, including Ultimate.
Yes, it's hard to conceive of an Atom-based netbook running Windows 7 Ultimate. The key caveat, however, is that Microsoft says that those Windows 7 netbooks need to run on "sufficient hardware". Microsoft doesn't say exactly what that is, unfortunately. However, given that they've thrown that out there, look for this feature to be one of the most closely examined of any Windows 7 offers.

2.) Remember Windows Ultimate Extras? They're gone.
Does anyone actually remember why they paid extra for the Windows Vista Ultimate Extras? Was it DreamScene? Windows Sound Schemes? Tinker? Yeah, me either.

"Our new approach to planning and building Windows doesn't have the capacity to continue to deliver features outside the regular release cycle," a Microsoft document provided to PCMag and AppScout says. "While our core development team is focused on building the next release, our sustained engineering team is focused on updates to existing features. As a result we don't plan to create Ultimate Extras."

Perhaps, although I wonder why Microsoft never thought about creating a Windows 7 (or Vista) apps store?

3.) Windows 7 will run DVDs natively -- but is there Blu-ray support?
Windows 7 won't add the a la carte DVD support Vista included. Instead, "for Windows7, we will now offer DVD playback natively in Home Premium, Pro, and Ultimate, and will no longer offer Home Basic and Starter with the 'with DVD' option," Microsoft says.

But wait -- will Windows 7 support Blu-ray straight out of the box? We don't know that as yet, unfortunately.

4.) Downgrade rights are actually mentioned.
Downgrading Windows wasn't even part of the tech lexicon until Vista, when people suddenly backpedaled and realized that Windows XP might actually do the job better than Microsoft's latest operating system. With Microsoft's Steve Ballmer claiming that Windows 7 is Vista, but better, I'm surprised that the topic was even mentioned in the document I saw.

"Final decisions are still being made on details like End User downgrade rights outlined in the applicable product License Terms," Microsoft says. "We will be in touch when we have more to share."

Incidentally, there will be a Windows XP-to-Windows 7 upgrade available, Microsoft says. (full Story)       

Technorati Tags: microsoft,Windows 7,windows vista,windows XP,netBook,OS

The G-Drive vs the Future of the PC

Every so often, the mainstream media puts out a story that says the PC is on its last legs. The latest, a Fox News story that "Google's Rumored GDrive May 'Kill' the PC," suggests that the Google Drive would shift consumer interest away from Microsoft's OS in favor of cloud computing.

I've read stories about the death of the PC for the last 15 years, and as you know, PCs are still going strong. Even in a down economy, manufacturers will still sell at least 260 million of the things worldwide in 2009. But it's true that what constitutes a "computer" will change over time; the more interesting debate should be around what forms, what functions, and what processors will dominate the PC landscape in the future.

In the most extreme view of this new computing model, applications, data, and back- and front-end processing will exist in the cloud. In essence, it's the mainframe model of the past, with the cloud serving as the mainframe and the PC as a terminal or thin client of some type. There is a measure of truth to this idea, though it assumes that we'll get much faster broadband speeds. And even then, the front-end dumb terminals would more than likely resemble PCs—screens and user interfaces built into appliances, thin clients, and perhaps even netbooks with lightweight OSs. I think this view of the future is what the Fox News story was trying to evoke.

Even if we did get a GDrive that served as our computing back-end in the sky, many front-end devices, depending on what they are being used for, could still need serious CPU and graphics coprocessors to handle mainstream business and consumer applications. Hence the future of the PC seems more complex than this story would lead us to believe.

A more likely scenario is that the average home will have at least one very powerful PC that can handle the video and graphics-intensive applications consumers will demand in the future. Think of things like HD video, 3D images and games, and next-generation apps running simultaneously—and instantly accessible. This PC would also become the home media server. Since PCs of this nature really do become the center of a family's digital lifestyle, people will want as much processing power as they can afford so that they could benefit from what Cisco calls a more "visual networking" environment. A lot of people will also have smaller laptops (thin clients, perhaps) in other rooms of the house for accessing and manipulating their stuff, whether in the cloud or local. And we'll have computers built into our refrigerators and stoves that rely pretty much exclusively rely on the cloud for their data and back-end processing.

At the business level, computing will shift away from desktops, moving almost entirely to portable computers, including laptops, netbooks, and smartphones. There will be a place for thin clients, too, especially for use in call centers and for other types of data-processing functions, and we will continue to need workstation-class PCs in the enterprise for things like desktop publishing, graphics creation, and scientific and engineering applications. (full Story)

Technorati Tags: google,OS,netBook,laptop,technology,futur of the Computing