Filed under: Linux
HP releases netbook interface for Ubuntu
by Brad Linder Feb 4th 2009 at 1:00PM
But what makes the Mi Edition software stand out is the graphical user interface which looks nothing like Ubuntu or even Ubuntu Netbook Remix. When you first boot up the Mi Edition software you're greeted with a screen with a web search engine, a list of favorite web sites, and shortcuts to your music and photos. If you click the Start New Program button, a program launcher will open that separates your applications into Internet, Media, Utilities, Work, Play, and All tabs. The settings manager shows you everything you'd find in the typical Ubuntu settings screens, but it's arranged in a new way that makes it easier to find what you're looking for with fewer clicks.
HP has also added a custom media player called HP MediaStyle that looks a lot like Apple's FrontRow. MediaStyle provides you with a simple full screen interface for navigating music, videos, and photos.
Gallery: HP Mini Mi Edition
Overall, HP has created one of the best thought out Linux interfaces for netbooks. The software is designed so that users who have never used Linux should have no trouble performing basic tasks. But experienced Linux users can always fire up a terminal window by hitting Alt+F2 and entering "gnome-terminal."
The software comes preloaded on some HP netbooks. But HP also plans to post a utility on its web site in the next few days that will allow you to create a system restore USB flash disk from Windows. You can already create one if you're running Linux. You can use this utility to either restore a Mi Edition netbook to factory default settings or to turn a Windows XP HP Mini 1000 into a Mi Edition device. I would not advise anyone to try using this install disk on unsupported hardware as you'll probably end up with an operating system that doesn't support your WiFi card or other hardware.
It's not clear whether HP plans to offer the software for non-netbooks. But if you want to try adding installing the user interface over a normal Ubuntu installation, you can try adding the HP repositories and using the Synaptic package manager to install a package called glassy-bleu-theme.
The software comes preloaded on some HP netbooks. But HP also plans to post a utility on its web site in the next few days that will allow you to create a system restore USB flash disk from Windows. You can already create one if you're running Linux. You can use this utility to either restore a Mi Edition netbook to factory default settings or to turn a Windows XP HP Mini 1000 into a Mi Edition device. I would not advise anyone to try using this install disk on unsupported hardware as you'll probably end up with an operating system that doesn't support your WiFi card or other hardware.
It's not clear whether HP plans to offer the software for non-netbooks. But if you want to try adding installing the user interface over a normal Ubuntu installation, you can try adding the HP repositories and using the Synaptic package manager to install a package called glassy-bleu-theme.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Joshua Clayton said 1:39PM on 2-04-2009
Tempting to try it on my Eee901. I'd love to see how it compares to the ume-launcher.
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Jason Stiles said 1:55PM on 2-04-2009
I'd like to try it on my old Compaq Presario. I think its little 13 inch screen needs an interface like this.
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xlerate said 3:04PM on 2-04-2009
It kind of looks like my Netvibes layout.
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Sohier said 3:55PM on 2-04-2009
I have had a HP Mini 1000 mi since Monday and I must say I am rather impressed with this UI (I am writing this on it right now). I have been a linux user for many years, but this takes the ease of ubuntu up to a whole new level. I still find myself turning to the terminal fairly often (the apt-get front end that comes with MIE is limited to HP approved applications). There are a few bugs that hopefully will be cleared up with an update soon, but I have not encountered any show stoppers yet. All-in-all the whole HP Mini 1000 mi package is damn sweet.
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soyahz said 3:55PM on 2-04-2009
Oh, I should have mentioned, MediaStyle is absolute CRAP, it is based on Elisa which is great for very basic media playback if controlled by a remote, but with a mouse it is hugely inefficient and annoying to use. It also offers no internet based media options, no last.fm music (not that the speakers are worth listening to music on), no youtube integration or podcast integration, install rhythmbox and boxee for these features, but sadly without the homescreen integration. RSS feeds would be nice as well in the home screen.
Paulo Sargaço said 1:35PM on 2-05-2009
Hi Sohier.
I am very interested on learning more about your experience with this product. How is it working with you in terms of accessing different kinds of media. For instance, flash contents, sound formats and stuff like that. Has there been any file format you haven't been able to work with so far?
Thanks
Paulo
Sohier said 10:13PM on 2-06-2009
Hi Paulo,
I have found that HP MIE is pretty good, flash 10 works out of the box, no serious problems with audio (the speaker quality is not amazing, its a bit of a challenge to get USB audio working and the headphone jacks audio quality is rather bad, though that might be caused by a software filter of some sort). As soon as I got the HP I loaded up the terminal and installed VLC so I have not really experienced the default media codecs.
Sohier
motang said 5:54PM on 2-04-2009
Awesome! Going to have to try it out!
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Brian said 11:38PM on 2-04-2009
Is it possible to boot windows off of this from an external drive?
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Brad Linder said 11:41PM on 2-04-2009
By default, the installer overwrites everything on your hard drive, so there's no simple way to dual boot this with Windows. But you could try installing a standard version of Ubuntu or Ubuntu Netbook Remix as part of a dual boot setup and then adding the HP repositories and installing the HP software. This isn't officially supported, but it might work.
SDreamer said 11:31AM on 2-05-2009
They should replace their QuickPlay stuff on Windows with something like this since pressing the QuickPlay turns on the laptop anyways. My try to dual boot with this though as suggested by install Ubuntu. If it saves on battery life, I'd rather boot to this while i'm on campus.
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David said 2:24PM on 2-05-2009
Veronica Belmont reviewed her "Mini Mi" in her blog, and had some issues with the interface: http://www.veronicabelmont.com/2009/02/my-thoughts-on-my-mini-mi/
--begin quote--
The big problem is the OS. Since I went with the Mi Edition, the netbook runs on MIE (Mobile Internet Experience), which is HP’s Ubuntu-based operating system. Admittedly, this was my first foray into Linux, and I’m not letting MIE taint my opinion of Linux whatsoever. Basically, there’s a lot that just doesn’t work right. The home screen, seen below, is supposed to have live bookmarks (and thumbnails) for my favorite websites. Even after adding them, the thumbnails just never loaded.
I wanted to add Boxee for Linux onto it, but adding third-party applications is very difficult. There is an application manager, but it’s locked-down to HP approved apps. There have been some stability issues as well, which I find interesting considering I’m rarely using multiple programs at once or doing anything “crash-worthy.”
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James Dashner said 10:33PM on 2-05-2009
Looks really kewl and easy to use. Don't know how I would try it though.
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Lns said 2:47PM on 2-06-2009
Given HP's history of software engineering (think consumer-based printer drivers).... well, I'm sure you can fill out the rest.
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kevin said 4:02PM on 2-06-2009
am I missing something...where exactly can you get the download?
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felipe alvarez said 5:41PM on 2-06-2009
*THAT* is GNOME? Looks like either XFCE or KDE4
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Eric Berry said 5:22PM on 2-06-2009
Will this work on the Aspire One?
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boTux said 9:33PM on 2-06-2009
Hi,
I've uploaded all needed files to create the restore disk on ubuntu.
Take a look at my mirror @ www.botux.fr :
http://mirror.botux.net/pub/ubuntu/hp-mie/ or ftp://mirror.botux.net/pub/ubuntu/hp-mie/
Have a Good install !
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Robert said 9:34AM on 2-07-2009
Tested on Macbook Air with VMWare.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/macewan/3255938555/
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look said 5:00PM on 2-07-2009
No mention of a license? It's kind of important. Is this proprietary, closed-source software or not? Some of us actually care about what we put on our machines, not just what we can get for free.
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