COMP 3000 2011 Report: joli os

Background:

The name of this operating system is Joli OS , which is especially designed for netbook users. The operating system was developed from “Jolicloud” .After version 1.2 released, the company renamed it “Joli OS”. “Jolicloud is a new computing platform which makes the cloud more simple and more open. Jolicloud wants to connect users to all of their online applications, social media, videos, photos and files from any device in the world.” Said the company in its homepage. Joil OS a free linux operating system based on Ubuntu . It was designed for easy installation, with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 3G modem support all included. The operating system supports all the major netbooks, including models from Asus, Acer, Dell, HP, MSI, Samsung and Sony. Jolicloud claims the OS supports 98% of netbooks with out-of-the-box compatibility but also works on a very large number of other devices, up to 10 years old: laptops, desktops and even tablets. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joli_OS) Company Jolicloud was founded in Paris in 2009 by Tariq Krim and Romain Huet. You need an invitation to download it when first released. But it’s totally free now –no charge for download or use. Just sign up an account in its homepage, you can enjoy the entertainment or any thing else in Joli OS immediately. The size of latest Jolicloud ISO file is about 691MB. If you don’t like to use virtual machine , you can download EXE file from the homepage as well.

Installation/startup:

I used the VM virtualbox to run the Jolicloud ISO file. Step 1, I create a new virtual machine t. Step 2,start the virtual machine and put the ISO in to load it. The starting interface is like screenshot1 (the pictures are placed below this description). After choose the language, time zone, keyboard type and disk where you want install in, the installation began. It takes about 12 minutes to install Joli OS in my computer completely. The virtual machine need to be restarted to run the Joli OS . There is an attention here, the computer must be connected to the Internet, or the installation wouldn’t be successful. Then after typing into your account of Jolicloud ( Facebook account is also be accepted) ,the desktop appeared. If you want to try the Joli OS, just choose the ‘try Joli OS without installing”, you can use it disposablely. The step is the same as above.

screenshot 1

Basic Operation:

Joli OS has a very nice and concise desktop. (A picture of the desktop is placed below this description). The interface o is very clear and easy to understand how to use since it is made for netbook. You can find many applications which you are very familiar with are already in the desktop, like facebook, twitter, skype, gmail, youtube etc. So it’s very convenient that you don’t need take extra time to download them from Internet. Look at the right top of the desktop, there is a “+” mark, press it and you’ll find many more applications here, sorting out into many sections, like games, education, communication etc.(a picture of it is placed below this description) Find the application you want, just‘add’ it. It’s really easy and fast. Most of apps in app center are free here except some manage applications. What’s more, every Joli OS user have a public page where can share the apps with other users, so you can find some apps that recommended by other users. It‘s really do help. In the right bottom of desktop, you can find the button to change the desktop background. I tried some softwares in the desktop, like twitter, facebook and some games. It’s just like some weblinks in the desktop, when you click it, it shows the webpage which like you just open in the browser. There are some local applications in the Joli OS, like calculators, text editor, dictionary , movie player ,sound recorder etc. The default form of text editor is HTML, which can be easily edited in other primary operating system at present. The movie player also supports many forms of video file, like avi, rm, wav etc.

Screenshot of desktop

screenshot of application center

Usage Evaluation:

During those several days using Joli OS, I really like it. There are 3 points that made it meet its design goals. First, it won’t take much space of hard disk. Netbooks have smaller hard disk generally. Joli OS save more personal space for users. Second, simple and clear interface with one press to open, and one press to shut down. Third, the easy application install system. As netbooks are mainly use for surf the internet. The applications in Joli OS are enough for basic entertainment. However,Joli OS still have big space to improve. For example, I feel the application serves depends on Internet is a little bit slow. The recommended application update too slow(the latest shared app is 128 days ago) because the lack of users. And the file manager system of hard disk can still be developed. But those problems above won’t affect general use. I know there aren’t many people using Joli OS nowadays. The overwhelming majority of manufacturers and users of netbooks still would like to use windows because of its strong compatibility. I agree that windows is much more well-developed than Joli OS. However, Joli OS just a new OS that has not been popularized. In the future, when it become much consummate, Joli OS may be used in primary netbook widely. Even now, if you are tired of windows, Joli OS maybe a good choice.

References:

http://www.iplaysoft.com/jolicloud.html

http://baike.baidu.com/view/3052819.htm

http://www.crunchbase.com/company/jolicloud

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joli_OS

http://server.zol.com.cn/222/2228446.html