Monday, June 01, 2009

back from Google I/O, got a new laptop!

I can speak for myself, at least, in saying that it felt pretty darn good to be on the GWT team for Google I/O. The Google Wave demo at the keynote got a standing ovation, and they made a pretty big deal about how they used GWT and it was a wonderful tool for their work. Pretty fantastic. A standing ovation at a tech conference. Totally electric.

Anyway! I got back, and my Dell Mini 12 with Ubuntu preinstalled had arrived! It's really pretty. The keyboard is a little more cramped than I'd expected (especially with the punctuation keys) but it's got a nice clicky feel. I'm not super-impressed with the Ubuntu version Dell shipped -- it's a specialized distribution of Hardy (last year's version) with some Dell and Yahoo-specific goodies. But the built-in camera and suspend/resume work beautifully! And no Microsoft tax! Not bad, really!

I'm probably about to install a fresh new (9.04) Ubuntu Netbook Remix on it.

Update! There's a bit of a funky driver issue with running the stock Ubuntu instead of the one Dell provides, but it's very surmountable. Here's how to install Ubuntu "Jaunty" on your Dell Mini 12.