Thread: Moblin

Moblin is a linux-based operating system created by Intel. It is specifically created to be used with netbooks, nettops and mobile internet devices (MIDs); that is, low-powered small and inexpensive computing devices. It's currently in the beta stage and its version 2.0 was launched this year in June. It brings a completely new and unique user-interface to the table.

Setting up the OS for installation

The Moblin 2.0 image file can be downloaded from moblin sites. It's roughly 680 tvlB in size. If you are installing Moblin on a computer that has a CD-ROM drive, you can simply burn the image using any of the popular CD burnin& tools. If you are installing it on a netbook or nettop, there's a nifty app for Windows that lets you install Moblin using a USB flash drive. Download the Win32Diskimager program. Execute the W32DiskImager. exe file, select the Moblin image file you downloaded, insert a USB flash drive and select its appropriate drive letter. Lastly, click 'Write'. Make sure that your boot priority is changed to boot through your USB drive. To do this, insert your USB drive into your PC, restart the machine and enter the BIOS. In the boot priority option, put the USB flash drive at the top of the priority list. Select Save settings and Restart' in your BIOS.


Booting the Live version/Installing Moblin on your PC

Now, you should be greeted with the Moblin boot screen. There are two ways of trying out Moblin. The easy way is by booting a Live version of the as. For this, select the 'Boot' option. This simply loads the entire as onto your RAM. Thus, it does not modify anything on your machine and is regarded as the safer way to try it out.
If you know what you are doing and want to ahead and install, then choose the boot and install option. Here, you'll have to run through a series of setup screens to select language and timezones. Then comes the part where you have to select the partition on which it has to be installed. If you want to dual-boot Moblin with another as, be careful while selecting partitions. You could lose all your data if you choose the wrong partition! After the installation, you will see MyZone.



Interface
The Moblin user interface is unlike any other Linux-based as interface we've seen yet. It has a slick, visually-appealing interface. It's got large icons and has an integrated environment with internet based applications such as Google Talk, Twitter and Last. fm. MyZone is the replacement for a desktop typically seen in most OSes.
MyZone is the home screen of Moblin. It provides you with an overview of your computing activity. Calendar entries, task lists and favourite application icons lie to the left. Any entry made into the calendar and tasks list will show up in the MyZone. Recently visited web sites and files lie in the centre. Social network updates from sources such as Lasdm and Twitter lie to your right.

using the tool bar
The toolbar is an auto-hiding shortcut and status bar. You can summon it by hovering the mouse at the top area, or by simply pressing the Windows key on your keyboard. Press the Windows key again, and it will hide itself. It includes 11 distinct icons whose names are displayed once the mouse pointer is hovered over them. They include 'MyZone', 'Status', 'People', 'Internet', 'Media', 'Pasteboard', 'Applications' and 'Zones'. The toolbar auto-hides itself, thus giving more viewable area while using Moblin. The last three icons at the right-eorner show battery, volume and network status. Clicking battery allows you to change the screen brightness. Clicking on the volume control allows you to change volume level and toggle between mute/alert sounds. When you click on the network button, you will see the connection manager. It displays the types of connections supported by the PC and has a list of available networks on the left. There's also toggle switches to turn each connection off or go entirely into offline mode.

Change wallpaper of MyZone

Click 'Applications' on the toolbar. Click the settings drop down bar. Select 'Wallpaper and fonts'. Choose from the pre-defined list or click "Add" to select your own from the hard disk.


Manage application shortcuts

Click on Applications. Hover to the icon of the application that you want in MyZone. You will see a small pin icon at the top-right. By clicking it, that application shortcut will show itself in the MyZone screen. If you want to remove any app from the favourites list, just hover the mouse pointer to the Favourite Applications section at the top of the Applications menu. Click the Pin icon and it will be removed from the list.



Add Twitter/Last.fm feeds to MyZone

Click on Web Semces in MyZone and select the social networking service you want to subscribe to. Fill in the account details. Click the Exit button on the top-right. Head back to your MyZone page using the toolbar icon. Please wait for some time if the right corner of the screen hasn't been updated. Depending on your internet connection, it should display your Twitter/Lastfm feeds after it's loaded.



Updating status

The Status menu allows you to update your status with a provider that supports status messages. For example, you can post messages on your Twitter account directly using the interface, without having to go to the browser. To start, simply add your Twitter account details as mentioned above. Once Moblin is in synch with your Twitter feeds, you can just select 'Status', type into the text bar and click 'Post'.


populating the 'people' menu:

The integrated Chat pplication The 'People' menu will display all the contacts from your Instant Messenger accounts. Currently Google talk,jabber and Salut are Internet > Messenger. Click Edi t > Accounts to add your 1M account details. Ensure that the 'Enabled' field of the account you've added is checked. Click close and change the status from 'Offline' to any other to login. After logging in, you should see all your 1M contacts in the 'People' menu.



What is Zones?

Moblin's take on the Alt-tab Zones is basically Moblin's variation of a visual Alt-tab view; somewhat like the preview thumbnail icons that we saw in Windows Vista under Aero mode. The good thing about Zones is that you can organise your running applications into 'Zones' for easy categorisation. Hitting Alt-tab brings up the Zones menu that shows large-sized thumbnails of running applications. You can continue hitting the [Tab] key to change the highlighted app. Alternatively, you can also go to the Zones menu via the toolbar. You can drag-and-drop the thumbnails to organise applications into multiple 'zones'.

Lastly, there's no shutdown button in Moblin. To shut the PC down, simply press the power button on your computer, like you would on any other electronic device .

Moblin is very much in the development stage right now, with basic features like a fully-featured office suite missing. But it brings quite a unique interface to the table. We're eagerly anticipating its final release in the near future!