Ubuntu 11.04 Sneak Peak and Chrome Apps

It's Natty!

Unity Desktop running Chrome and Gwibber

Couple things are happening this week which are interesting to the open-source computing folks.   The first is the alpha release of Ubuntu 11.04, nicknamed Natty Narwhal.  Natty has some major departures from previous versions of Ubuntu.  The most obvious is the switch to the Unity desktop, which will support 3D as well as the Unity Launcher.  Unity is only partially implemented so far, but looks pretty interesting.  The Ubuntu Desktop is enabled by default, but requires 3D support.  Ubuntu Classic is also available to support a wider range of hardware.

Natty also comes with some updated packages, including a beta of Firefox 4.  Supposedly the new kernel is optimized for power management and speed.  It certainly seems quick.  

This is the first of several planned alphas before the April release date, so expect more updates.

Chrome App Store 


Yesterday, Google held an event to announce updates on the forthcoming ChromeOS.  There were some very interesting things that came out of that event.  The ChromeOS notebooks will operate largely in the cloud, with their apps residing online.  The idea is that this will make them blazingly fast and reliable, and that the user experience will be totally portable.  More exciting: the initial notebooks will come with free - you read that right - free two-year 3G data plans from Verizon.  The free plan will be 100Mb/month, and Verizon will tier higher plans starting at $9.99/month.   This could be a serious iPad killer, with ATT's expensive data plans and notoriously poor service.

The netbooks will also have a built-in jailbreak mode, activated by a small switch under the battery.  In this mode, the user can install any app they want - Google doesn't mind.  Also, while the apps reside in Google's cloud, security is a foremost concern (so they say.)   A Google ID is not required to use the OS,  and the notebooks' "guest" mode operates in incognito mode, so no information is passed between the guest and host accounts.

TweetDeck App

While the ChromeOS is still months away, the Chrome App store also opened yesterday.  Chrome apps are optimized for the Chrome browser, but will work in any modern browser that supports HTML5.  Chrome is required to pay for the paid apps, however.

I "installed" the TweetDeck app, and I've gotta say, I might never launch the desktop app again.  It took me a couple of minutes to log in with my TweetDeck ID and arrange my columns the way I wanted them.  But after that, launching TweetDeck from a restart takes about two seconds until all the columns are updated, if that.  TD runs as a tab in Chrome, and is lighting fast.  The web app actually makes better use of space than the desktop app does, and gives you the same option of choosing from multiple accounts and services, adding media and adding locations.  (although the "Add your location" button crashes Chrome in Ubuntu. It works fine in Windows.  Hopefully they'll fix that soon)  

The New York Time app is simply gorgeous, and there are other apps that range from very nice and useful to simply stupid.   Kinda like the Apple App Store, I suppose.  The apps show up as a tab in your Chrome "New Tab" page, along with your most visited and recently closed pages.  This is really useful and easy.

I look forward to seeing what Google does with the app store and ChromeOS in their quest for world domination to make the user experience transparent and transportable.