i should be working (but i'm fixing my computer).

Okay, I'm not used to looking at everything on my screen being quite so big.  That's because Jolicloud did not get the resolution on my external monitor right, so I have 1024x768 instead of 1280 x 1024 that I expected to see.

...

OTOH, Jolicloud set everything else up just fine and did recognize and turn on my external monitor.  I would consider this a "difficult install," since I used the flash drive Live version and installed Jolicloud along side Windows Vista [OMG, don't get me started, my last Vista boot took 10 minutes and then pushed 14 more updates at me ...  How do I loathe Microsoft? Let me count the ways ...] AND along side an OpenSUSE 11.3 install.  It sorted things out just fine, though it had some issues at partition time with the linux swap partition -- claimed it was mounted and this could be a problem, don't proceed without rebooting, etc.

[Considering it was the swap drive, I risked my entire multiple operating system installs and "ignored" the problem.  Seems to have come out ok.

Jolicloud is running like lightning, especially if I consider the benchmark to be the original Vista that came on this NOT YET 1 YEAR OLD Gateway Lt3101u netbook.

I really appreciated the app synchronization feature -- this is a true winner!  Sure, it takes a little time to download and install the apps, but not having to go through and remember what I've got installed, and manually install each app is great!  As soon as the computer is logged in (this is a Web-Centric operating system, after all) I have the option to load all of the apps I have on any other computer, and also load the updates to the system ... if any.  (Perhaps 1, not 14 or so.)

I had a bit of a hardware glitch prior to the install -- for some reason, my flash drive was not reading correctly and Jolicloud didn't load quite correctly.  As a result, I got a series of boot messages on the screen and noticed something interesting: Jolicloud seems to be based on Ubuntu.  If this is correct, adding apps that are not in the Jolicloud universe should be a snap!  The Jolicloud team apparently contemplates that users will add non-Jolicloud apps, because their upgrade notes (beta to 1.0) mention that any apps that have been "manually added" will have to be re-added after the upgrade -- and won't synchronize.

Well, I need remote desktop and I don't know if they have it as an automatic install.  Other than that, I can "get by" on the apps that Jolicloud makes available.  The other thing is that Jolicloud is netbook optimized.  So, I have to confess it is making my OpSu 11.3 install on the same computer seem a bit stodgy by comparison.  But part of this is that the automatically installed browser is Chromium and I am used to using Firefox.  Chromium is faster than Firefox in my OpSu install as well.  But ... reflecting on my last post a bit .. it's important to consider that Firefox is more concerned about user needs and Chromium naturally has leanings toward features to benefit the commercial side of internet browsing.

[I do love to digress -- KDE team has been talking about improvements to the HTML engine that runs Konqueror.  Konqueror was once my main browser, but I abandoned it for two reasons:  (a) Firefox addons; and (b) KDE decision to use Dolphin and in some sense "de-integrate" the Konqueror web browser and computer browser tools.  Though I will say that I still use Konqueror some of the time, especially when I need administrator access.  For some reason, KDE has see-sawed back and forth between Konqueror and Dolphin as to which is more functional at any given time.]

[BTW, I don't know why other distros are so insistent upon file browsers that do not offer split screen capability.  This is true of the native LXDE file browser, PCMAN and also of the one provided by Jolicloud.  Oh, yeah, also true of that other very expensive OS that annoys me so much ....]

Speaking of Windows, I just learned of "rainmeter" for Vista and 7.  Doesn't seem to have the temperature readout that I want need (remember, this Gateway already died one premature death of heat failure), but otherwise very cool.  Also, Window Blinds.  Don't know much about either one -- as I don't use Windows much except for NetFlix and a couple of proprietary programs I use occasionally -- but these seem like useful desktop customization tools.

Another observation on Jolicloud -- the initial login to jolicloud on the web is based in Chromium, which will offer to save the login.  That's helpful in skipping at least one step.  I had given my user account the same name/password as my Jolicloud account in the hope that I could use a single login, but that didn't happen.  In any event, Chromium remembers the password to the online Jolicloud world.  But ... and correct me if I am wrong? ... I don't think Chromium offers an option to password protect (and encrypt) its saved passwords.  If you ask me, that's a serious, serious flaw -- especially as I just saw a report of an Android hack that allows remote hacker retrieval of one's BROWSER PASSWORD FILES.  True, this is not Android, but Android is google's operating system and chromium is google -- and you get the point here.

Especially when you consider that to use Google services -- gmail and the like -- you will wanting to put your google login into Chromium.  And, while serious with respect to all of your private stuff, if you use google checkout, disclosure of your google login is quite serious!!!

Later:  I have to admit Jolicloud has added a ton of Apps. and indeed, many that are seemingly business-centric.  There are also an HTML editor (Bespin), a PHP editor (PHP Anywhere I think?) and a pdf editor (pdf hammer?)  Wine is included too.  So, I've to some apps to check out, because there are things I have not seen elsewhere.  Now, some of these are fee-based services, such as "Ronin", which provides time-tracking/client billing capabilities.    But, at a reasonable monthly fee and with cloud access capabilities, some of these services may be "less expensive" than trying to maintain all the software one's self.

Lastly, I have not yet checked out the features available by simply logging into "my jolicloud."  Apparently, even if you do not have a Jolicloud computer at the moment, you can log in and utilize ... well, I don't know what ...

I don't know if Jolicloud is the OS of the future, but I think programmers need to take notice (eg., KDE team?)  Jolicloud is doing on a broad basis what I have been attempting to do with my own software for some time and I think that is the direction to go.  Personally, I would rather see a system that I can run on "my own" website -- for security reasons, which is also my objection to google docs and the like -- but I perceive the Jolicloud install as reducing the amount of time I have to wear my IT hat, and that is a Good Thing.

But, as with many of the internet based services -- Gmail and the like -- I'm a bit afraid we are too willing to give up control and security in return for ease of operation.  Perhaps there is a happy middle ground.

Or not.

Later, Later ... after some light reading, I see that Canonical is building its Unity Lite desktop in somewhat the same vein, with a 10 sec. boot-to-web.   Also, there is some question why Jolicloud has built its 1.0 version on the aging 9.0 Ubuntu rather than 10.0.   So, lots of activity out there and difficult to keep track ...

later, later, later ... well, pretty much I don't know what I'm talking about. The install includes Ubuntu/Debian Synaptics in the "legacy apps" and has the full set of Ubuntu 9.2 (or so) "Jaunty" repositories. So, it's possible to add pretty much whatever you want. Even within the jolicloud repositories, there are desktop options if you don't like the default "ipod touch" style launcher desktop. It comes with rdesktop loaded, so for my remote login to windows server, I just needed to create an app icon for an automated login. In fact, for some reason rdesktop server and bluetooth are set to run automatically -- why? Normally we don't need to run a server and most netbooks don't have bluetooth installed. I suppose the rdesktop server is for support purposes -- but I don't like the possibility of remote users snooping around my OS, so in any event, I changed the startup settings to remove these.

Later:  further details of my Jolicloud experiment.