A walk in the [Cloud] Joli OS 1.2

by Fahed Sabbagh on Apr 13, 2011 in Featured, Reviews | 4 comments

 

What’s cloud computing?

Cloud computing is a relatively new concept that we’ve been hearing about lately, but what exactly is it? Cloud computing basically means that your data and applications are stored on “The Cloud” which is a bunch of services and resources online, in other words, the internet.

But why?

Why do we even need that? and what do we gain from it?
With all your data, settings and application online, cloud computing allows you to access it from any device, anytime and anywhere in the world. It means you can share it very easily, collaborate with others and enjoy a more “social” sharing experience.

Cloud computing and cloud based operating systems are open-source by nature, this means endless development possibilities and new features every single minute. Your OS will always be up-to-date and (almost) bug free.

Jolicloud

As the name suggests, Jolicloud is a cloud based environment that runs on many different devices within the browser or as a standalone application or an operating system.

Using HTML 5, Jolicloud delivers a unique interface, especially designed to work around the limitations of smaller screens and low processing power by using large icons and well designed GUI and applications.

Joli OS uses an Ubuntu core and Google’s Chromium 10 as it’s browser core (Chromium 11 update available) and launches online and native application at a super speed, it boots in 10 seconds or even less and I installed it in about 20 minutes.

Installation

Whether you want to use only Joli OS on your machine or run it side by side with your current operating system, the installation process is fairly easy. You can start by downloading the ISO files from here and then you can either burn it on a CD/DVD or setup a USB flash key easily. Either way, there’s loads of helpful information on the Jolicloud website.

From there you simply follow the on-screen instruction to complete the installation, it shouldn’t take you more than 20 minutes.

Something that I wasn’t expecting to see during the installation was the option to add Arabic as an keyboard input language. Kudos Jolicloud!

The interface

The Joli OS interface is simply beautiful, the main screen or “The Launcher” contains shortcuts to all your applications which you can open easily and quickly. You can simply drag and drop them to rearrange the main screen, open as many apps as you want, stack them and switch between them in the upper left, corner taskbar-like area.

The file browser gives you quick access to your local and online storage, it comes pre-integrated with Google Docs and Dropbox. I noticed that you can’t select multiple files while browsing your Dropbox, a problem that can easily be solved by installing the Dropbox client application from the app centre.

Applications

The App Centre comes with hundreds of application added, and you can easily add your own web application in literally seconds, all you need is a URL and a shortcut icon.

Some native applications include the OpenOffice.org suite that includes apps to edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations, images and more. You have Pidgin and Skype for your instant messaging, and other apps for media playback, Facebook, twitter and many more social media apps, and some pretty sweet mini-games.

Social Features

Jolicloud comes with a personal page that you can customize and with friends who use Jolicloud. I found this an added feature that I didn’t need but it could be useful for companies or teama that use Joli OS to share activities and apps.

Hardware Support

From what I’ve seen during the installation, Joli OS comes pre-loaded with support for many brands and notebooks. I installed it on an Asus that wasn’t on the list and it worked just fine, the only issue I noticed was support for the touchpad scroll option, which didn’t really bother me much since I usually use a USB mouse.

Nevertheless you can always report bugs and hardware issues and wait for the update, most of the issues you have might even be fixed before you even know it.

Remote Access

My favourite feature about cloud computing and of course Jolicloud is that you can access you desktop, files, apps and services anywhere. Just logon to my.jolicloud.com using your username and password or you can simply use Facebook Connect.

Jolicloud can also be added as a Google Chrome App, accessed through the iPad and this feature will be coming to Android devices soon.

Conclusion

It’s not for gamers, hardware geeks or advanced users, but it has pretty much everything you need from an everyday operating system. It’s light, it’s fast and it’s Free!

I simply LOVED Jolicloud and would definitely advise you to check it out.

I’ve been waiting for Google’s Chrome OS for quite a while but now I think they’re in for some serious competition.