Raiden's Realm: Review: gOS 2.0 Beta

Review: gOS 2.0 Beta (Page 1 of 1)

Written by Steve Lawson
Posted on: Jan 25, 2008 at 03:04pm
Section: Reviews
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Put a Rocket in your pocket...

THE idea of low-cost computers running Linux operating systems is steadily gathering ground in the market place. In the UK, Dell report steady interest in their range of Ubuntu-driven machines, and the diminutive Asus Eee, running a customised Xandros desktop, has been a global sensation. Then there's America, where Everex's range of PCs featuring the upstart Linux distribution known as gOS have been selling out faster than they can make them. But can cheap and cheerful also mean innovative and interesting?

I think it can, and I think gOS 2.0 (codenamed 'Rocket') is proof of that. gOS has, in its short lifetime, become known as 'the Google distro', which is neither fair nor entirely accurate. The 'g' in the name actually stands for 'Good' and there is no affiliation with Google at all. Nonetheless, Google certainly has a strong presence on the default gOS 2.0 desktop, of which more later. gOS is available as a live CD download independent of those Everex machines.

gOS is built on Ubuntu, and uses a customised version of the highly-regarded but still fringe desktop environment known as Enlightenment. Using Enlightenment is a learning process in itself but don't be put off as, once you're used to it, it's a lovely place to spend your computing time. goS puts many of Enlightenment's options to good use. There are areas containing panels or docks for applets called “shelves”, which can sit anywhere on the desktop, and launchers called “gadgets”. The gadgets include a networking applet called Exalt (my wired Ethernet was detected and configured by default) and a clock, which are in the top right of the default desktop.

Of the gadgets, the iBar is the most noticeable and useful. Sitting along the bottom of your screen, it provides shortcuts to your gOS applications. I like the iBar feature – its icons expand as you mouse-over them, giving eye candy lovers a Mac OS-like thrill. By default there are iBar shortcuts for Firefox, Skype, Rhythmbox and Xine, a raft of Google apps such as Gmail, Google Docs, Maps, News, and Calendar, plus popular websites and services, including Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia and Blogger.

When I clicked on the gBooth shortcut – gBooth is a browser-based webcam utility – it takes you to a site that isn't actually working yet. Nonetheless, iBar is easily customisable through My Settings/Applications/iBar – I added OpenOffice's word processor to it during my live CD session with no difficulty. It's the long list of 'G' prefixed applications included in gOS that explains the Google OS misunderstanding. You have to admit, however, that there's some logical thinking behind their inclusion. How many of us are constantly firing up a web browser, using Google searches, editing our blogs, checking news headlines, messaging or watching fools on YouTube? Doesn't it make sense to have links to all these activities on your desktop by default, particularly if you're looking to attract users young and old to your OS?

Elsewhere on the gOS desktop you'll find a Google search box – though this doesn't launch search results in Firefox, just a stripped-down window – and shortcuts to your volumes, the MygOS folder (includes home, desktop, root, volumes and trash), and a desktop pager with four virtual desktops. Interestingly, when I plugged in a USB memory stick gOS popped an icon on the desktop for me which, when double-clicked, launched the Fileman file browser to display the stick's content. When I'd finished using the stick I right clicked on its icon expecting to find the 'Remove Safely' option – but it's wasn't there. Apparently, in gOS the drive is automatically unmounted for you once you close Fileman.

It would be nice if they told you that, instead of having you root around for ages looking for a way to safely unmount the thing! As I mentioned earlier, gOS comes as an installable live CD and there's an icon on the desktop that opens the installer. Because gOS is an Ubuntu-based distro, and because Ubuntu will install on just about every piece of modern hardware, I decided to skip the hard drive install. Reports elsewhere suggest high success rates from a routine that is typically Ubuntu. I gather there's no package selection to confuse new users – you get the whole shebang, like it or not. If you want other applications post-install, the Synaptic Package Manager is included and set up to access both the Ubuntu and gOS repositories.

And if it ain't in the Ubuntu repo, it's probably not worth having, is it? gOS comes loaded with the same Gnome games package you get with Ubuntu, plus Gnomebaker, the OpenOffice.org suite, Pidgin messenger and Mozilla Thunderbird email. This means there's enough software loaded on your hard drive if you're not keen on gOS's web-based software approach. If you are happy with working exclusively online, there's a handy link in your iBar to Box.net, a free online storage and file sharing website which requires no fees or software downloads.

Also in the iBar is a Q&A icon that leads to a gOS website that's a cross between a user forum and a wiki – there's not much really useful stuff on it, though I suppose this will improve as more people start to use gOS. To conclude, I really liked gOS. It looks terrific, has solid Ubuntu foundations, boasts lots of nice functionality and – even in a Live CD environment – was surprisingly nippy. It strikes me as being perfectly suited to teenagers by default, while that Enlightenment desktop is customisable enough for it to appeal to hardcore Linux users. One to watch, methinks.

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