The Moblin steering committee has released Moblin v2.0 beta for netbooks and nettops for developer testing. With this release, developers can begin to experience and work with the source code of the visually rich, interactive user interface designed for Intel Atom-based netbooks. Moblin is built using GNOME Mobile Technologies, and supports existing Linux desktop applications.

Moblin v2.0 features include a new, visually rich user experience, optimised for netbook and nettops, building on the latest FOSS graphics technologies, such as Clutter, DRI2, and KMS. The m_zone, acting as the 'home screen' panel, provides instant access to your synchronised calendar, tasks, appointments, recently used files, and real-time updates from your friends on social networking sites.



Besides this, aggregation of your social networking content provides you with the ability to see your social networking activities on one screen. There's also a Web browser optimised for the Moblin 2.0 netbook user interface; a 'zoomable' media player; a user interface for connection management; an updated connection manager (ConnMan); and, of course, support for Linux desktop applications.

According to the announcement, the Moblin images are being tested with the following platforms: Acer Aspire<'One, Asus eeePC'" 901, 1000H, Dell Mini 9, MSI Wind, Lenovo S10, Samsung NC10, HP Mini 1010 and 1120NR (wired networking only for now).