Custom Ubuntu for Netbooks from HP

The netbooks are clearly riding the big wave right now, with all kinds of OEMs fighting a violent battle for supremacy in this exponentially growing market. Architects, designers, engineers are brainstorming day and night to find the perfect balance between price, functionality, looks and size.

HP apparently had an ace up their sleeve as they recently unveiled the HP Mini 1000 Mi Edition. Standing for "Mobile internet," the Mi name addresses the very purpose of netbooks: that of taking the internet "to-go."

With hardware specifications not differing too much from the "netbook standards," what really puts this device in the spotlight is the gorgeous, professional looking Ubuntu interface. Yes, HP realized Linux was the way to go and chose Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) for their Mini 1000 Mi Edition. Miles away from the first "cartoonish" user interface, Canonical's Ubuntu Netbook Remix or Ubuntu Eee (now known as Easy Peasy) ones, for the ASUS Eee PC, HP's interface will certainly turn some heads and persuade many into choosing the Mi over other alternatives.

The custom Ubuntu interface for HP 1000 MiE - Image courtesy of HP

The glossy black background with discreet gray curves and swirly shapes on the Home Screen perfectly matches the exterior of the device, making it very pleasing to the eye. White text and some hints of blue complete the inspired design. Though you could stare at it for hours on end, looks aren't everything and a functional layout is a must for a quick internet access device. HP understood this and designed an ergonomic Home Screen, containing, in the 10.1" or 8.9" BrightView display, most of the tasks a netbook user would need: Mail notifications, a web window for quick searching and browsing under which four user-set bookmarks with preview thumbnails are displayed, and panes for music and photos. On the bottom center there is a Start New Program button, an easy and convenient way to open a program, view all the installed applications or check what's currently running on your machine. One thing that stuck to the classic layout is the notification area in the bottom-right corner, containing the usual icons for volume, time, network etc.

A surprising decision from HP was to make the interface freely available to everyone who wants to use it, provided they have an Ubuntu install. But, and I repeat myself, it goes SO well with the exterior of the HP Mini Mi, that it's almost pointless to use it in other netbooks.

Some of HP Mini 1000 Mi edition features:

· 92% of full size keyboard · less than 1" thin profile · 3-cell lithium-ion battery · 2 USB ports, SD/MMC media card slot, headphone/mic jack, extension port

The applications included are the usual suspects for a Linux distribution: Pidgin for IMing, Firefox Browser, Thunderbird email client, Skype for video (using the built-in webcam) and voice calls, the OpenOffice suite, Adobe Reader for accessing PDFs and 4 GNOME games. The difference stands in the dedicated HP MediaStyle portal to all the multimedia content stored on the SSD drive. Of course, being a Linux distro, adding other apps is a breeze, and for the geek in you, a terminal interface is there to feed your, well, geeky needs.

With a reasonable price tag of $379,99, the HP Mini 1000 Mi Edition is definitely worth a look or two.

Find more by visiting the product's website.

Custom Ubuntu for Netbooks from HP

Takes the netbook scene by surprise

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