14 DAY TRIAL // Roberto J. Dohnert, CEO of Black Lab Software (PC/OpenSystems LLC), the company behind the Black Lab Linux operating system series, informs Softpedia today about the general availability of the NetOS, NetOS Enterprise, and NetOS Education OSes.
It looks like the development of the Black Lab Linux distribution is slowly moving towards the NetOS operating system that Black Lab Software designed as a drop-in replacement for Google's Chrome OS. Of course, NetOS is based on Black Lab Linux, and it can be installed on any x86 PC. There are currently three editions of NetOS available: NetOS, NetOS Enterprise, and NetOS Education.
"The development team has been working for over a year and a half, honing our cloud-based offerings to the cutting edge, bringing the very latest-and-greatest to our faithful customers," says Roberto J. Dohnert. "As the computing world continues to migrate towards that model, PC/OpenSystems LLC decided that it was time for us to position ourselves in the vanguard of cloud-focused Linux."
What's inside NetOS?
We bet that this is the number one question users will ask when they read about the NetOS operating system. What's inside NetOS? First of all, it is imperative to mention that the OS borrows most of the technologies used in Black Lab Linux. And to answer the question, NetOS contains a collection of web-based apps, but also the classic, locally installed programs.
Users will have quick access to most of Google's services, including Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Play Music, Google Translate, and more. Additionally, NetOS comes with other popular web apps like Microsoft Office Online, Outlook Web, Apple iCloud, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Netflix, Hulu, Pixlr Image Editor, and Pixlr Express.
If you want to use NetOS offline, you'll find many popular open-source applications pre-installed, such as the AppGrid package manager, Steam for Linux, Google Chrome web browser, Skype VoIP client, NitroShare network file transfer app, Ice SSB from the Peppermint OS, and many others. NetOS is based on Ubuntu Linux, so users will be able to install any other software they need from the Debian/Ubuntu repositories.
"For Chromebook customers, whatever you do on Chrome OS, you can do on NetOS - we’re that flexible," claims Roberto J. Dohnert. "And structurally we are different; NetOS can be readily installed on off-the-shelf commodity PCs, laptops, netbooks, or on older repurposed hardware. PC/OpenSystems partners with Acer and HP, but NetOS can be installed on Macbook Pro / Mini / iMac, Dell, Lenovo, and Microsoft Surface products, as well as certain Chromebooks."
NetOS 8.0 is available today, and it can be downloaded and installed free of charge, or you can buy a USB flash drive with NetOS pre-installed from the PC/OpenSystem LLC Webstore. OEMs are free to bundle NetOS on their hardware starting today as well. However, the NetOS Enterprise and NetOS Education editions contain more powerful tool for those who need them, and they can be purchased with yearly support subscriptions.
