ASUS subnotebook PC run Xandros

As some of you might already have read on the web, Xandros will be providing the OS for the 200$ ASUS notebooks. Images of the Eee PC can be found here. ASUS also have a nice flash demo here. The users will have the choice of running in simple mode or full mode. The simple mode is meant for first time users. The main interface consist of a friendly application launcher. The full mode is basically running KDE and is aimed more toward power users. The user can switch between the two modes anytime using a simple option in the user interface. The simple mode is quite addictive because it let's you start your favorite application very quickly.

Hardware highlights:

CPU: Pentium M
RAM: 512MB DDR2 memory
Connectivity: 100Mbps Ethernet, 56K modem, WiFi 802.11b/g
Main Storage: 4GB Flash (more storage will probably be available)
Mutimedia: built-in stereo speaker, built-in web cam, built-in microphone

I've been involved in the development work for the simple mode and I can say that this laptop is quite nice. I really like it's small size and I could see myself carrying it everywhere I go. If they can keep the price around 200-250$ I'm sure a lot of people will buy it. It takes a little while to get used to the tiny keyboard and you won't be able to play Supreme Commander on it but it is more than adequate to read your e-mail, browse the web, watch streamed movies, etc.

Ottawa Democamp

I'm just coming back from my first Ottawa Democamp. A DemoCamp is a small unconference-style event that allow you to show off your software or hardware and get feedback from an informed audience. Each demo has a 2 minute introduction, 8 minute demonstration, and 5 minutes for questions. This event is held regularly (each few months) in the Ottawa region. This time, it was held at The Clock Tower Pub on Bank Street.

One demo that caught my attention was the one about a new cross platform language called "eC". The talk was given by Jérôme Jacovella-St-Louis, the main developer and founder of Ecere corp. eC is a new object-oriented programming language that is based on the C language. In fact, it even use the gcc compiler do translate the eC source into native code. No only did Jérôme create a brand new language, he also created an IDE to create eC based user interfaces. The IDE looked like a classic VB 6 IDE. He showed us how you could create and change a button's label and color. The plans are to port eC to Linux and Mac in the near future. The demo applications where definively more fun to look at and where quite impressive. Mostly because they where using OpenGL which the eC language seem to support.

I asked the author if there was any big projects using this new language and the answer was basically no. I doubt that this new language will be picked up by software compagnies any time soon but maybe Jérôme will find a niche for his eC language.

Update: The language name is "eC" and not "Ec", updated my post. You can now go and learn more about eC at http://www.ecere.com/

Creative Voluntarily Delist From Nasdaq

Creative Technologies, best known for their Sound Blaster audio cards, announced that they would voluntarily delist from Nasdaq. They say that the low trading volume and relatively small number of share on NASDAQ did not justify having two primary listings (the other one being SGX-ST).

Creative Technology Press Release

Dell to sell computers with Unbuntu preinstalled

Cnet is reporting that Dell will preinstall Linux on some of their consumer computers. Dell apparently choose the Ubuntu distribution. As I said before, I think this is good news for the whole Linux community because it will make Linux more accessible to non geeks. Let's see if HP and the other vendors follow.

Link: http://news.com.com/Dell+picks+Ubuntu+for+Linux+PCs/2100-7344_3-6180419.html

Nice Web Design Guide

I've found a very nice "web 2.0" design guide: web design from scratch (http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/). It contains tips and tricks to help improve you web site usability and look. Very nice information.

Free Technical Books

Here is a link (http://www.freetechbooks.com) to a website containing links to various free technical books. One of the books is Web Style Guide, 2nd Edition. I really like this book because it give you a general understanding of how web users 'think'.

Dell to offer Linux on some of it's portable and desktop computers

This sound like very good news to me! Finally, the users will have a real choice. My next portable computer might well be a Dell. The link below resume some of the blogosphere comments in the last couple of weeks.

Dell capitulates to Linux fanbois (and key study) - Computerworld Blogs

Kopete autostart in Xandros Desktop OS

Kopete is KDE default instant messaging client. In newer versions, there is an option to launch the application when you log into KDE. If you have an older version, this functionality is not directly configurable from Kopete. You can achieve the same result by copying Kopete's desktop file into your KDE Autostart folder. Open a console (konsole, xterm, etc) and execute this command:

cp /usr/share/applications/kde/kopete.desktop ~/.kde/Autostart/

The next time you log-in, Kopete will get launched automatically.