EeeBuntu NBR Mini-Review

I've been running EeeBuntu NBR (Netbook remix) for just over a week now and I'm struck by two things - first, how easy it is to use, and how well the innovative netbook interface works, and second, how much of a near-miss experience this has been for me.

I'm judging how well this works against other Linux distributions I have installed onto the same EeePC - OpenSuse and Mandriva being to key ones, as well as the user experience from using an operating system (OS) like MS Windows XP.

The install itself is as easy as can be - you answer a few questions about where and who you are, accept the suggested disk partitioning scheme (remember to backup any files before you do this - your disk will get formatted as part of the process) and everything goes ahead as planned.

The OS installs with no drama at all.

Once you have completed the install and logged in there is a configuration tool in the system menu that applies updates and fixes to ensure that all the right setup is done and that your EeePC works correctly. It takes only a minute or so and is completely automated.

The first problem I noted was when I tried to use my 4GB SD card in the EeePCs inbuilt reader - which didn't work. It seems that (on this install, on this hardware - a stock ASUS EeePC 900) that the OS is not configured to mount new devices automatically. Now, for those of us that are familiar with Linux, it's not too much of a problem to sort that out, but that is also not entirely the point.

The EeeBuntu NBR is designed specifically for people with netbooks who want a better OS, with a better user experience. The problem is, from what I've seen I'm not convinced that this would work without the user needing to sort a few things out by hand. If we think about MS Windows - you just plug in the device and it works. With the EeeBuntu NBR, that's not the case, and I don't think the target audience for that OS would necessarily know what to do to fix it or where to look to find out how.

Day-to-day the OS is responsive and works quickly. Boot times including login of about 60 seconds with applications starting fast and running well.

The other thing that struck me is that the pre-configured repositories (the online libraries of software available for installation) are rather limited - for example GIMP which is one of the most famous of open source graphics packages and is usually available along with Open Office and some other key applications, isn't - was rather surprised that it wasn't in the standard build.

Despite these few (minor) points, I'm struck by how good an OS this is and how well it works.