The Eeebuntu Project is an attempt to provide an Ubuntu Linux environment that works well ‘out of the box’ specifically on the Asus EeePC (although it is known to work on other netbooks.) One of the Eeebuntu project’s core developers, Andrew Wyatt (better known as “fewt”) is the developer of the Eee PC Utils, a package that brings Windows-like hardware ACPI management to Ubuntu.

In a recent blog post entitled “I give up,” Andrew lambasted the Ubuntu movement, claiming that Ubuntu “sucks” and that “they have the uncanny ability to take Linux back in time by piling code that doesn’t work on top of more code that doesn’t work until they have turned their OS into a garbage salad.”

Normally, rants like this can be found all over the place–railing against one platform or another–but when a devoted developer raises these kinds of concerns after investing months of his time into a project, it makes one sit up and take notice.

The question is raised every so often: Will Linux ever be accepted as a “third” legitimate desktop operating system? Do consumers have a need for a competitor to Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS? Pundits say that the window of opportunity for mainstream Linux has closed; when Ubuntu was new, fresh, and exciting, and Windows Vista was being nearly universally vilified, there was an opportunity for real mass market acceptance. Is it too late?

According to Andrew and many of the supportive commenters on his post, the answer is yes. While not claiming Linux itself is doomed, he paints a grim picture for the development of Ubuntu. It was, after all, supposed to be “the one” that brought Linux to the mainstream consumer desktop.

Andrew closes his blog post with a telling sentiment: “Maybe I should buy a copy of Windows 7, I hear that it actually works. How can we expect non-technical users to use this pile of garbage that is ‘Linux’?”

AMD’s next-generation ultra-thin platform is said to launching within a few weeks, according to a report by Digitimes.

Congo is the firm’s newest platform designed to fill the $599-$1499 bracket with so-called Ultra Thins that handily exceed Netbook performance with similar dimensions. The new platform combines a refreshed Athlon Neo MV-40 CPU with the M780G chipset for HD-capable graphics and the possibility of Hybrid CrossFireX.

AMD's perspective on the Ultra Thin's market position.

Congo is designed to succeed the Yukon platform which powers products like Hewlett-Packard dv2 Ultra Thin.

Value ultra thin platforms by the numbers.

For more information on the Yukon, Congo, and the new Athlon Neo revision, Icrontic published an in-depth analysis in June.

We’ve heard that catching slim netbooks with your ass is the coolest.

Silicon Valley’s favorite journo Fuad Abazovic is upturning rocks in NVIDIA land to reveal details of the firm’s second-gen ION part.

Confirmed in a late February investor presentation, ION’s next generation has been shrouded in secrecy until recent whispers from insiders at big green. The rumors go that the upcoming platform, dubbed ION 2 for now, will undergo a die shrink and bump the shader count from 16 to 32+.

The modifications to the core design of the ION package should considerably boost the ION’s 3D rendering process… Or trigger a deluge of crummy CUDA apps.

That said, ION’s already robust performance will need a sharp kick in the pants if it hopes to contend with Intel’s Pine Trail platform which we prattled on about in June.

The notebook market has experienced explosive growth over the last 18 months. Thanks to the crowded arrival of the Netbook and a new focus on mobile lifestyles, this once-boring segment has become a lifeline in a time of devastating economic loss. While Intel plans to charge ahead with a new generation of the Atom, AMD has shunned the Netbook and created an entirely new class of sub-notebooks. As AMD looks to bolster the presence of their new form factor, we take a look at how they plan to get there.

Incubating a new market

After the firm hard-lined against Netbooks in November of last year, big green previewed its take on the thin’n'light at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Their vision was a new class of notebooks — dubbed value Ultra Thins — that would satisfy user performance expectations at a price point slightly above the Netbook.

(more…)

Intel Corp on June 2 announced a new microprocessor line destined to compete in the value ultra-thin sub-notebook market created by rival firm AMD.

The new processors, officially dubbed the Pentium SU2xxx series, come amid investor fear that feature creep in the wildly popular netbook class of sub-notebooks is quickly cannibalizing the sales of higher-margin products with more expensive Intel CPUs.

Though Intel is expected to launch the Pentium SU2xxx series with the SU2700, rumor is emerging that it will now be supported by a lower-cost Pentium SU2300 chip.

The lower-priced SU2300 part arrives at 1.2GHz and could help to shave as much as $90 off the cost of an Intel-powered value ultra-thin by year’s end.

OCZ’s sleek 10.1″ Neutrino DIY netbook has dropped Intel’s 945GSE in favor of NVIDIA ION. [via]

NVIDIA Corporation has announced 12 new devices at Computex that all make use of the hotly anticipated Tegra mobile internet device (MID) platform.

The new Tegra-based devices, which also include netbooks and tablets, provide Adobe Flash acceleration as well as enough horsepower to render 1080P video at a fraction of the power consumed by Atom, Nano and Neo-powered products.

In addition to the 12 Tegra-powered MIDs, Computex attendees are free to touch and use a selection of Tegra products on display:

• Compal Communications, Inc. CN88 (netbook)
• ICD Ultra (tablet)
• Inventec Applications Corp. Rainbow (netbook)
• Mobinnova Mabo (tablet)
• Mobinnova ViewBook N910 (netbook)
• Pegatron Vivid (netbook)
• Wistron M5 (netbook)

The Tegra has previously proven its chops during the 2009 GSMA Mobile World Conference when the firm displayed an Android-powered phone featuring NVIDIA Tegra hardware.

NVIDIA’s proof-of-concept device harnessed the power of the Tegra APX 2600 platform to produce silky smooth 1080p playback. Big green has also confirmed that Tegra units will be able to play such content for at least 10 hours before running out of juice.

NVIDIA Corporation yesterday revealed a complete ecosystem of 21 products based on Ion, a platform that has received considerable discussion since its announcement on December 17.

The list of products come from manufacturers both known and unknown to service a variety of roles including netbooks and motherboards.

Centered on the GeForce 9400M chipset, NVIDIA created the Ion to shrink the footprint of a netbook motherboard to the size of your palm. The firm contends that Ion will reduce both size and complexity by providing an elegant single-chip solution that should prove less expensive than competing products.

NVIDIA VP of World Wide Sales Rene Haas said in December that the Intel Atom, for which the ION is designed, is “actually a very good processor,” but it has been hamstrung by outdated Intel chipsets.

Icrontic briefly touched upon the Ion’s design as compared to upcoming Intel Atom platforms in our “A look at Intel’s 2009 mobile strategy” article.

Netbook chipset designs from NVIDIA & Intel

For a complete list of Ion-based products, click the jump.

(more…)

In what has surely been the most riveting legal battle of 2009, Psion Teklogix has waived all claims to the word “Netbook” as used in marketing past, present and future.

The battle erupted when Intel began to refer to the wildly popular class of cheap sub-notebooks as netbooks. A British PDA maker filed for trademark of the “Netbook” name in 1996 for a since discontinued handheld device called the Netbook Pro. Late in 2008, the PDA maker now known in Canada as Psion Teklogix began sending cease and desist letters to any company involved in the usage of the “Netbook” marketing term.

After going to court and squabbling about for a bit, both Intel and Psion have come to a mutual agreement over the word and agreed to waive all responsibility in the proceedings.

“The litigation has been settled through an amicable agreement under which Psion will voluntarily withdraw all of its trademark registrations for ‘Netbook,’” reads a Psion statement. “Neither party accepted any liability. In light of this amicable agreement, Psion has agreed to waive all its rights against third parties in respect of past, current or future use of the ‘Netbook’ term.”

Half way between notebook and netbook, the Samsung NC20 gets major kudos from Tech Report.

Phoronix tests the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 netbook will Linux.