Have Laptop Will Travel

BrowserLinux: a Linux distro with a browser, and nothing much else

Originally posted on December 26, 2009 @ 11:19 pm

BrowserLinux_1

Ok, so I guess you’re pretty excited for Google’s entry into the operating system market with Google Chrome OS. I don’t know how anyone could get pretty excited over an OS running a web browser and nothing else, but if you’re into cloud computing and you would want to have a feel of what Chrome OS might turn out, you should try BrowserLinux.

BrowserLinux is a fast and small linux distribution for surfing the web. In fact it’s so small that it claims that it eats up only 78Mb upon installation. It’s actually based on Puppy Linux, which is by itself one of the most lightweight Linux distros available.

Unlike Google Chrome though, BrowserLinux is not all browsers. It also has a few applications installed, and you have options to add extra software if you want to.

The applications that come preinstalled on BrowserLinux are:

  • Web-browser (Firefox 3.5.5)
  • Flash 10
  • PDF-reader
  • Music Player (Alsaplayer)

To install BrowserLinux, you need to download the ISO and run Unetbootin.

Okay, if you’re looking to install this on your main computer, I really wouldn’t advise doing that. Having a lightweight operating system is well and good, but to run a system as stripped-down as this, you’re going to run into something that’ll need an application not available for your OS. Better stick with a bootable flash drive if I were you.

OS X Update Kills Netbook Hackintosh Capabilities?

Originally posted on November 4, 2009 @ 7:10 am

hackintosh_mini9_topcomp

Now this is just a rumor, but if this is true, man, this is going to suck big time for all you hackintosh enthusiasts. You see, the upcoming 10.6.2 update to Mac OS X apparently changes the way the OS interacts with the CPU. The changes are so drastic that it looks like the new version of OS X will not work with machines using Intel Atom processors.

We don’t know if it’s a necessity on Apple’s part or they just decided to annoy the hell out of hackintosh owners, but either way it is a bummer.

Of course, it might change and the final version of OS X 10.6.2 might just support Atom (heh, fat chance). But until then, hackintosh owners are advised to stay away from 10.6.2.

Jolicloud netbook OS Alpha users can invite friends

Originally posted on October 27, 2009 @ 10:00 am

So let’s say you’ve been using the Jolicloud netbook OS for some time now. And you want your friends to actually join you for the ride, but dang, it’s a closed alpha and you can’t get your friends to use the new OS.

Now if you’re a Jolicloud user, you should be able to see 10 invites in your homebase so you can get your friends to use Jolicloud. If you have a friend who uses Jolicloud, this is the perfect time to bug your friend as well.

Legit Chrome OS screenshots?

Originally posted on August 7, 2009 @ 10:00 am

You guys do know that I’m pretty much excited over Google’s Chrome OS for a lot of reasons. And guess what, these screenshots, purportedly of the new OS, are floating around the web.

I’m pretty skeptical, because, well, Chrome might just be command line at this point. For one, the font isn’t really Google-ish. But who knows, right? [Read more…]

Update 10.5.8 fixes vulnerabilities in Mac OS

Originally posted on August 10, 2009 @ 3:34 am

Macintosh users should brace for another round of updates as Apple releases Security Update 2009 – 003 and Mac OS X v10.5.8.

The new updates address about 18 security vulnerabilities. Most of the identified vulnerabilities are considered critical and could have the potential of actually being exploited. For example, a vulnerability in the ColorSync profile could mean that opening a malicious image file will result in someone taking over your computer. Other similar flaws have been plugged with the new update. Among these is a potentially catastrophic vulnerability regarding AppleTalk response packets maliciously encoded that can execute arbitrary code execution.

You can access the update by visiting http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/.