jkOnTheRun ask a valid question this morning: “Maemo 5: Do We Need Another Mobile Platform” It got me thinking about why I’m so interested in Maemo. With Android, Moblin, a huge range of Linux distros, Iphone OS, Symbian and other platforms on the scene, what makes Maemo so different for me?
First and foremost, like Moblin and Android, its a tightly controlled Linux distribution and if Linux is going to be successful in the consumer world, it needs quality control. I like that.
Secondly, its the fact that Maemo is focused on a single hardware platform. This is something Android doesn’t do and could cause problems in the future. I liken it to the differences between the multi-platform open-source media center, MythTV and XBMC, the media center that was hacked onto the original Xbox. XBMC progressed in a quick and stable way because of it. MythTv is still tripping over itself to support millions of combinations of hardware. One wonders if Android could try and spread itself too wide and end up with a similar problem. A stable hardware platform is good for the software development ecosystem.
Another one of the reasons I like Maemo is because of Nokia. I like their quality, and their industrial design. I like the materials they use and I especially like the fact that they try to make devices that allow or even enourage people be creative. They also have some great ideas (and back-end resources) for social networking. They were right to experiment with a personal tablet back in 2006 and when I look at the N810 and imagine 720p video recording and playback, high-quality web browsing, 3G, slick UI, high quality audio, mapping, ebooks and a healthy dev community, it sets hairs up on the back of my neck. Its my Carrypad!
Most of all though, Maemo has always been associated with a class of devices that I believe will be the next generation of personal gadgets. Combining video and image creativity with innovative social networking tools, mapping, productivity and a first-class web browsing experience. They know that all these advanced applications require specialised hardware to make them shine and to give more mobile developers more possibilities than in any other platform.
What do you think?
New article: Why I like Maemo http://cli.gs/yUSSAZ
i would say that its less tightly controlled then android or moblin (at least in the variants thats out there for consumers).
just see the control issues that one see around android on the G1 (the dev phone is another story), and what jkk ran into with the aigo sporting a moblin variant.
on the other hand, with maemo the community have been very active at picking it appart, and nokia have even helped out at times.
the first diablo update broke the bluetooth-pan community package, thanks to a change in the network management. but after some talk on the maemo bug system, they did some changes to fix the issue.
what will be interesting tho is where moblin ends up, now that intel handed the running over the the linux foundation.
Sorry Chippy, I don’t agree. Nokia has taken my money too many times. My 9500 (Symbian, not Maemo) was unusably slow, and the hinges broke with less than a year of normal, mature use. Well over 1000 US$ gone in less than a year. My Nokia 770 was not much better. I bought 2, and they were slow, and unstable on the Web. Updates broke existing apps. Yes, it was early in Maemo’s life. Then I bought a N80 (Symbian again). Again it was intolerably slow, and anything but mobile specific sites were unusable in the browser. My wife is under instruction to have me physically restrained if I ever attempt to by another Nokia product.
My Wibrain B1LE with full Ubuntu Linux on it was actually cheaper than a N810 at the time, and comparing the web browsing experience on the Wibrain with any Maemo device I have tried is like comparing a Bugatti to a ride-on lawnmower. Flash, Firefox plug-ins, etc. all work on the Wibrain. How about full Open Office? Thousands of games are available via emulation, and even several high quality 3D games that run naively on Linux.
Speaking of Android, Android’s developer community, number of apps available, and web browsing experience all surpass what I have seen on Maemo. Granted that the build quality of most Nokia products are better than that of the Android phones actually available so far. My Android Dev Phone 1 and the 9500 both creaked, and both suffer from poor looks and feel when compared to an iPhone, Sony Xpiria, or some of the Motorola products but my ADP 1 cost 1/3rd of what I spent for the 9500 (unsubsidized in both cases), and hasn’t broken yet. Also, better looking and better built Android devices are coming.
I think maemo represents a well thought out mixture of mobile and desktop features. It’s much more flexible then symbian, winmo or even android and yet it is well tweaked for a handheld device. I’ve never used moblin on a real handheld device but I’ve tried it on netbooks and vitural machines and I don’t think it can touch my n810 running on a pocketable device. It’s certainly better for the traditional netbook and could reach maemo’s level in the future but for now maemo is king for the so-called mid.
I think maemo will be successful if they improve the user interface icons.
Maemo would be much nicer if they finally pushed the product out of the door. Where IS the successor to the N810?
I’m looking forward to the next Maemo release. As long as Android requires a google account, I’m just not interested. What I do with my mobile devices, is between me and the device, and not some enourmous trans-national advertisement corporation ;)
my thoughts exactly too :)
“several high quality 3D games that run naively on Linux”
Hmm, not sure if this is Freudian, or not… ;-)
Maemo itself is focused on one hardware platform, but it has a spin-off project, Mer, which is essentially “port mameo to non-nokia hardware”. It’s supposed to include other ARM platforms, but there’s also talk about porting it to x86.
As for “do we need another mobile platform”, the time to ask that question was 3 years ago. Maemo’s here, whether jkontherun likes it or not :-}
(I personally have been hoping it would displace Symbian, but the recent open sourcing of Symbian, by Nokia no less, makes me wonder what the heck Nokia’s plans actually are, wrt to Symbian and Maemo)
even more interestingly, they are angling Qt towards being a cross-platform development tool, so that one can compile a program for both symbian and maemo (among others, windows mobile seems to be supported as well).
mer actually already runs on x86, as well as nokia n770, n800 and n810. It also runs on beagleboard, the omap3 development board. It isn’t just about running maemo on other heardware. It also about bringing updates to existing maemo devices since nokia isn’t going to develop maemo 4 any more. I have it installed on my n810’s internal mmc and I have to say it shows a lot of promise. It’s not quite ready for primetime but it’s quite fast, has excellent battery life and includes the ubuntu jaunty arm repo for access to tons of software.
Good to know (Mer on x86). I may go ahead and try to run it on my Raeon Everun Digital Note (since I don’t actually use it for anything…) and see how well it runs. If it goes well, I’ll probably install it on my Samsung Q1 Ultra, as well.
Is Mer going to stay Maemo 4 oriented, or is it going to incorporate Maemo 5 code as Maemo 5 matures?
Why I like Maemo | UMPCPortal – The Mobile Internet and Computing …: Speaking of Android, Android's develo.. http://bit.ly/49RPc
I don’t consider myself a power user or a novice. Hence I’m probably representative of a good chunk of consumers. I can debug many problems on a PC or Mac, and can install software updates, manage settings, etc. without hassle. But that doesn’t mean I LIKE doing it.
I had an n810 for about 2 months, then ditched it for an iPod Touch. I haven’t looked back. The n810 and Maemo are undoubtably powerful and have a good user support group, but the effort required to constantly keep up with system updates, finding and installing software (far from one-click in most cases), and the hassle of a far from ‘clean’ interface with my PC made for too many headaches.
I think most consumers want a mobile platform that works without any knowledge of technomancy. The iPod, while it has many shortcomings, has figured out the user interface and ease of use. Even PCs have an easier time of it with many point-and-click installers and background updates. While these systems will never offer the power or flexibility of a Maemo-like platform, they will continue to grab the bulk of the market because of their ease of use.
My $0.02.
I’m the exact opposite. My roomate got an ipod touch and it’s been nothing but trouble, combined with the fact I hate all the artificial restrictions placed on the device. Installing and using applications routinely locks up the device and not being able to IM and browse at the same time is retarded. Apple’s argument that it would kill battery life to have background applications is both correct and stupid. It’s my battery life, I’ll use it as I see fit.
My n810 does everything I ask and more. If applications freeze (pretty rare) there is no need to reboot, installs are one click using the application manager and the big, beautiful screen enables the real web. As good as mobile safari is at compensating for the small resolution it’s just a much nicer experience on the bigger display. Combine that with a replaceable battery, rock solid build quality, a real keyboard, expandable storage, a touch screen that works with Canadian winters (capacitive touch screens only work in California where you don’t ever have to wear gloves. I hate them) and enough software flexibility to have a left handed mode and it’s the perfect device for me. I actually gave my laptop to my grandparents after getting my n810 as I was going weeks without using it. The nokia was enough for my mobile needs and my workstation does everything else. maemo certainly isn’t for everyone but anyone frustrated with the lack of mobile flexibility should take a look.
maemo will never show its teeth without a dialer phone pad with some network . maemo is not a phone its flash 9 pc , an advanced one. I use p2p on it. if its a phone people might never care to buy another phone fo some years and that’s why its against the will of the market, htc shift as an example . said to be a phone but turn out not. phone data contract is 35 dollars . pc is 60 . maemo is pc and if its a phone u get ur self a pc with 35 dollars subscribtion , our networks don’t like that, screw this, I ve been thinking a lot why not n810 phone now I get it don’t u agree.
I’m not sure exactly what you were saying … but as to whether or not Maemo is a true phone platform, the Maemo 5 device is supposed to have HSPA, so persistent internet connection. Combine that with Google Voice, and you’d have all of the functionality of a cellular/mobile phone (voice calls, messaging, data). I’m not sure how people will be able to object to calling that a “phone”.
Totally agree. I have a N770, 2 N800s and one N810. The first two are not really satisfactory, but N810 is close to perfect. In fact I just bought a Samsung Q1P Vista. I first thought a 7″ screen would give me greater reading pleasure, but turns out that the larger Q1P is fuzzy, while the smaller N810 is crystal clear. I may return the Samsung in the end.
I like the N810 because of the community of developers but I don’t like it when in order to do things that people want their device to do that they end up having to hack their device a lot to get what they want. It’s the same reason I don’t like the iPhone, although the iPhone is way worse because Apple does it on purpose, while with the Maemo developers it’s just a matter of focus.
I still adore my N800. Due to the 2 SDHC slots, FM radio, large-ish screen and wifi reception that is better than *anything* I have ever used, I have yet to find anything to match it. I do wish it had the N810 keyboard, but in every other way I prefer the N800.
I bought an MSI Wind netbook and have been seriously disappointed–mostly due to the very poor battery life. There’s no point in carrying it around when it will only run for 1.5 hours.
I will almost certainly buy a nokia n900 with maemo-freemantle when it becomes available.
Maybe I am missing something but I understand that Maemo is an OS, right?
So I am a bit confused here…
“Another one of the reasons I like Maemo is because of Nokia. I like their quality, and their industrial design. I like the materials they use and I especially like the fact that they try to make devices that allow or even enourage people be creative”
While I agree on this and I have worked with Nokia in the past quite closely, I am not quite sure how this ties into an OS, while I don’t at all mind a company doing both HW and OS (I am an Apple owner you know :)) but when it comes to these types of devices I think the somewhat flop (so far) of any Linux and the alike based MIDs, and looking at how many are saying in the UMID post “I got mine” it’s surely looking like that device albeit it’s shortcomings is becoming quite popular already within the first weeks of availability. So what should we learn/see from this? That MAINSTREAM OS (although not designed with these pocketable devices in mind) is what people want and are looking for!
You said the “flop” of the Linux based MIDs… And I’m kind of curious where you get that from.
For “pocketable MIDs”, the only 2 MIDs that have been out long enough to succeed or fail are the iPod Touch (majorly successful, but also not really a mainstream OS), and the Nokia tablets (doing well enough to continue business, but not anywhere near as well as the iPod Touch; Linux based OS). None of the other pocketable MIDs have been out long enough to be a success or not, mainstream OS or not, IMO. I mean, we’re still talking about just a few months since the first one launched, and who has one that isn’t a mobile computing enthusiast, blogger/reviewer, or geek? The mainstream definitely hasn’t started buying these.
What we know is that people want a mainstream OS on their pocketable MIDs, due to the interest in all of the XP based MIDs … what we don’t know, yet, is whether or not they’re going to be happy with the reality of that desire. I can’t imagine using a conventional XP GUI on a tiny screen (anymore than I can imagine using a conventional Linux GUI, or conventional Mac GUI, on a 6″ or less screen), and being happy with it.
For “netbook MIDs” (since, according to Intel, pocketables, netbooks, and UMPCs are all subcategories of MIDs), the first, and wildly successful, product in this category was exclusively Linux based. It wasn’t until later that a mainstream OS was available for it. And several of the netbook vendors continue to keep Linux support on their netbooks. If it wasn’t successful, they wouldn’t do it. And the only people saying the Linux netbooks aren’t successful … are working at Microsoft (or people parroting Microsoft’s claim; Dell refuted it). That’s hardly an unbiased source. And, last, I know people who aren’t mobile computing enthusiasts, nor mobile computing bloggers/reviewers, nor mobile computing geeks (nor even linux geeks) who own Linux netbooks … and LOVE them. From looking at the real world, the MS claim seems to be complete FUD.
For “UMPC MIDs” … while I could blame the “almost all of them supported Windows only” fact for the reason the category largely flopped, I think cost was the real factor for those devices never really catching on. But, certainly, a mainstream OS didn’t save them.
So, where are you getting the claim that Linux based MIDs are a flop? From where I’m sitting, it seems to me that the only thing that has been out long enough to flop was windows based. And while I certainly agree that there is a demand for mainstream OSes on MIDs, there’s yet to be a standout success that has one, and plenty of successes that use Linux (Nokia, EeePCs with Xandros, Ubuntu on Dell, CTL, etc.), and a major success that uses a customized variant OS (iPod Touch).
(we could argue about whether or not the iPod Touch is a mainstream OS; IMO, while the underlying kernel/etc. is the same Mach/BSD that is in Apple’s desktop OS, all of that is hidden from the user; the GUI is different, the Application API is different, everything that is user facing is different; I would say that from a “mainstream” point of view, it’s a sibling of a mainstream OS, but not the same OS as the one that is Mainstream … and that assumes you find Mac OS X to be “mainstream” in the first place.)
Don’t get me wrong my “flop” comment was (knowingly) used very loosely and subjectively based on my own view and perception of the situation.
I personally don’t consider the iPod/iPhone to belong to the MID category as such though many (including myself) use them partially for similar purposes as they would a MID. I have owned my Aigo MID for some eight months now, and there was MIDs around before that.
While the iPod didn’t have a major OS as such there was and still is confusion by many as to if it is the same as OS X on the computer or not, whereas I feel there isn’t as much confusion by anyone out there with WM and Windows full editions.
I also feel that while say the Aigo MID used a quite familiar form factor as such being a slider from both the UMPC and smartphone worlds, and Linux also is quite well known, it didn’t catch on that much.
Compare that to the iPod/iPhone (keep in mind I don’t personally feel they are in the same segment but from a flop or not point of view) they came to the market with a very new UI, OS everything about it was quite new except for the basics of PDA format and touch screen though both of those also have (arguably) quite significant differences to your traditional PDA.
Maybe part of that success came from the impression some might have had (some still do in my opinion) that these came with full OS X just a different GUI, which obviously is NOT the case. I feel Apple on purpose wanted the public to get that impression.
Just look around there’s a few forums on here, on pocketables and MIDwiki that discuss the MIDs and that very lightly.
Then for instance look at the quite extensive community around the OQOs which I also don’t feel have been all that large of a success, and would most likely not have been around as long as they did without their corporate customer base.
As for the Nokia tablets, that’s a very different story since it is backed up by a huge corporation that can (and has as it seems) allow the “project” to go on regardless if it brings in any profit or not, if there is a long term more deeper purpose for it, even if the Nokia tablet sector of Nokia created a deficit for Nokia it would’ve been only a drop in the bucket for Nokia, that could from an platform experience bring in very valuable knowhow, which I strongly feel is the case. I doubt it lost money on the tablets but I also doubt seriously that profit making was the main agenda for it.
Anyway this debate seems to spin into a debate over hardware and that’s exactly what I was NOT talking about really, my point (as I always fail to explain clearly :)) was that I feel that the MID sector is suffering heavily due to them MAINLY not running a full mainstream OS as Windows.
If Aigo for instance would’ve come out with an XP edition right away I believe they would be seeing completely different sales figures.
So my *POINT* was look at the quite serious interest in the UMID despite it’s odd things and quality issues, I feel that speaks for itself, if you can make a pocketable FULL OS (full Windows) with decent battery time and speed it will have success. Like I said from day one, I feel if UMID keeps it up they COULD see somewhat similar interest and boom (though smaller obviously) as Asus did with their EEE 701 -> 900 models.
iirc, the nokia higher ups where surprised that the tablets do as well as they do…
The Nokia tablet better than expected only emphasizes the idea that it’s main agenda wasn’t to make profits.
Yeah, the first 4 generations of the Nokia tablets weren’t expected to make profits. The Nokia team has been pretty clear that they’re in a 5 generation plan, but they haven’t told us what that final generation will be. They also skipped a step, which they announced when they announced Maemo 5 about six months ago, but it hasn’t been made clear if Maemo 5 and the N900 are “the final phase 5” or if they’ve scrapped phase 4, moved phase 5 up to phase 4, and now they have a new phase 5 to replace it with).
Anyway…
My point is: they’ve been fairly upfront about the fact that the Tablets, and Maemo, are effectively a public research project (kind of like a “public beta” release of software, only it’s the whole 5 phase market development process).
Which fits perfectly with “we don’t really expect it to be a huge profit machine yet”. Unfortunately, I don’t think they counted on the iPhone/iPod-Touch, MIDs, netbooks, and Android showing up in the middle of their plan. Which might be why they skipped a phase.
I _AM_ really hoping that the Maemo netbook rumors come true. I’d especially like to see Maemo on something like the recent concept a 3rd party did for an Apple netbook/tablet (“Macbook Touch”):
http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/04/29/macbook-touch-maybe-just-maybe/
That thing, running Maemo or Mer (the open version of Maemo) would be outstanding. Small screen friendly, large system scalable.
Though, I may just have to settle for Mer on the Always Innovating Touchbook.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maemo_(operating_system)
that its called maemo5 has nothing to do with the hardware its on.
the N900 (or whatever its going to be called) is the 4th hardware variant (the N810 being a .y variant on the N800).
as for full maintream os, that will depend on ones definition of mainstream, and os for that matter…
yes, windows is the elephant of the os world these days, but i would say that nokia has a potential thrump card up their sleeve, Qt.
nokia’s plan is to allow a single set of code to compile for use on symbian, maemo, windows mobile, and potentially moblin and other X86 os’s.
hell, KDE is working hard on making 4.x apps work on anything Qt can be used on, be it linux, bsd, windows or even osx.
in the end, it comes down to what one expects to use the device(s) for, and what one have used in the past, more then any specific os it runs. past experience may be important however, especially as a lot of people have a worked up collection of freeware, shareware and shrink wrapped apps they use, and have created a workflow with.
one may have to ask if its easier to alter ones workflow to fit the device(s) available, or alter the device(s) to fit ones workflow.
“as for full maintream os, that will depend on ones definition of mainstream, and os for that matter…”
Very true for me personally the only “requirements” I have is that the UI be somewhat familiar and that it can run the “full computer” (read: desktop/laptop) programs that I can run on Windows, and more and more OS X nowadays (meaning more and more prgs become available now for OS X natively).
OS well again I couldn’t care less if it is an in the bios instant on or cloud os with fast wireless connection to be honest, I am very flexible when it comes to these things, I just need certain things to work.
That’s why i took the .doc and .xls example, you don’t have to go too many yrs back before you couldn’t do much with such files unless you had MS Office, nowadays though just about any device and phone can open them, so similarly if/when OS become as flexible to run prgs and the UI is more or less easy and simple to use, hey I’ll be one of the first to try it out.
What I am trying to say is if THOSE CAPABILITIES comes along I could care less what the OS is called or how it works.
there is the aigo, but its only been out in specific markets.
the diff between the nokia tablet and the ipod touch, is that the latter is piggybacking on the iphone marketing(rdf) machine.
when asus first launched the eeepc, microsoft was adamant about killing XP, and vista was unable to run on the hardware to a usable degree.
however, enthusiasts got xp running (because they could, it was a X86 machine after all), and microsoft then dumped the XP price to rock bottom (estimates have it around $15 pr licence) while at the same time saying that it could only run on hardware within x,y,z specs (at first it was not to be used on anything with a touch screen, but the relented).
basically, microsoft is getting hammered on the server side by linux based solutions, and if people get used to linux on the desktop at home, it will be easier for corps to replace the office desktops as well (the home pc is one hell of a training environment for user habits).
Just like the Aigo the UMID is released so far only for a very limited amount of markets.
Personally I don’t differntiate too much between the iPod and iPhone when the topic is such as this one here though obviously there’s a big difference when looking at the WWAN being there or missing, ironically typing this on the iPhone :) while on the go.
If you want to talk about piggybacking surely any Nokia product as more to piggyback onto within it’s own brand when it comes to “mobile computing” then Apple does just look at the whole Nokia symbian world not to mention Nokia Communicators alone.
AFAIK XP capable of running on HW like the 2GB SSD equipped EEE 701 was around long before the EEE was invented? In fact I bought my first EEE 701 as they hit the market long before they became popular, I did nothing special just installed XP off a CD.
Asus EEEs with touchscreens on them from the factory only showed up recently. Interestingly the Asus EEEs have been around for about a year more than the Aigo (less if I’m not mistaken) yet look at it’s success, surely formfactor, price and XP were major factors for this success. This is it point and why I posted in here, why invent the wheel when it’s already there albeit not being ideal for the platform nor troublefree.
@John
I still stand by the opinion that why invent another OS when we already have a very well distributed OS, as much as I don’t like XP I acknowledge is as being a must for many (including myself). Now I am not one to be so fond of Windows UI that I can’t live without it, for me it’s all about prg compatibility, so if/when starting up programs written for Windows works as smoothly as opening a .doc or .xls file on any given OS (mobile or not) today, in a virtual environment (like crossover does today quite ok) but just a tad more smoothly than they do today.
I do have to say though that for me personally having to deal with such things as installing programs on a “terminal level” as you’re forced to do often in Linux is not something I personally at all like :)
maemo has a few things going for it windows on a device this size could nerver have.
modular: becuase open source tools stick mostly to the unix idea of do one thing very well and to do something male a new tool it’s very easy to strip the install to a minimum size. maemo itself is something like 200 mb. It’s the same advantage apple used for iphone
open source: the openess of the code has enabled nokia to tweak the interface for finger/stylus use in a way windows could never be due to the closed nature of the os itself and well as the 3rd party applications. Some windows devices could with finger addons but the cracks so through very quickly. Tweaks to all levels of the OS means it’s a pleasure to use maemo on a 4 inch screen. I shudder to think of what windows would be like.
no x86: many people see it as a weakness but it’s a strength. My tablet uses 0.3% ofnit’s battery an hour sitting idle with the screen off/wifi on. Despite intel touting atom’s power draw no x86 device can get anywhere close to this without using standby. I just touch the screen and I’m up and running in under a second.
as for the command line the only thing I have done on my n810 that needed commands was modify the gtk theme with one line to show scrollbars on the left since I am left-handed. Everything else has been simple point and click.
maemo sits in a unique niche. It is far more flexible then any smartphone os and yet far better for mobile then any desktop os. Having used it quite a bit I think the best way to describe it is as the netbook of operating systems. Netbooks compromise speed for portability. maemo compromises flexibility for the same goal. And yet just like a netbook if you’re willing to wait a bit can be just as powerful as its larger cousins
Two sides to this story though, look at Linux it is open source but look at the communities around Linux, they tend to be very “closed” unlike Windows communities, ironically. I’m talking about independent support communities now. So “open” isn’t always so open at the end of the day. Some of the Linux builds on some of the MIDs have also been VERY locked down!
I’m not sure what you mean by more closed then windows communities. If you are referring to end user friendliness I’ll agree some open source projects could provide some better documentation and faqs. From a developer standpoint open source is as open as it’s gets. You don’t just have access to the api, you can see the code in the library you are referencing. If you see odd behaviour in your app you can use tools to teack it right to the offending line even if it’s in the compiler or kernel. And you have the chance to be heard when it come time to make changes/updates to the platform.
As for locked down linux based devices that is the catch 22 of open source. Everyone is free to use it as they wish. If a company decides they want to limit openess you are free to use the same sources as them and open it up (see the vibrant wrt54g community as an example). The freedom goes both ways.
I’m interested to know in what ways a linux based device has been locked down beyond that of a device using a closed source os. I’d like to hear from someone who clearly isn’t a linux user what they see as limitations/issues with the platform.
incidently you can run openoffice (slowly) in maemo which will handle all the office dovs you can throw at it. omap3 in maemo5 should enable much better openoffice speeds
Actually, I’ve never had to install an app at Maemo’s text terminal. The Application Manager is significantly better, and easier to deal with, than anything I’ve ever used on Windows. It’s comparable to (but not exactly the same as) dealing the Apple App Store for the iPhone, or the Android Market.
There are TONS of apps out there for opening .doc and .xls documents. Personally, I don’t care much about it. The only people who tend to send them to me are pointy-hair types. Worst case, I upload them to Google Docs. And as someone else already pointed out, there’s Open Office (and I’ve never had a problem opening any MS Office document in Open Office).
And, really, the rest of your “already have a very well distributed argument” is kind of hollow. In this regard, Maemo isn’t a new OS, it’s Linux. It’s a new packaging of Linux. And if your argument is “we don’t need Maemo because we have Windows XP/Vista/7”, then I flat out reject your argument. If anything, that’s a perfectly good justification for creating THOUSANDS of new OSes. Something, anything, better than the crappy fast-food-mentality-of-operating-systems that is Windows.
@John
You know I’m the first to say I don’t like Windows in fact after have sold my two last EEEs in the past 48hrs the only natively running Windows machine I own is my JKK modded Aigo with 3G. My situation is such that what I need to do on go generally speaking my iPhone together with my Sidekick is able to do they compliment each other quite well one for great keyboard and allways on IMs etc the her for more media related needs.
But regardless of what OS *I* want or like it won’t at this point change the five different corporate entities that offers the Windows only based programs I need daily to do my work, for everything else (while on the go) my above mentioned mobile devices serve me just fine, of course I welcome any updated editions or changes that improves them or that would enable me to have only ONE such mobile device, frankly though after the release of native Skype for the iPhone my need for XP deminished somewhat on the go, though typing like I am this right now on the iPhone is far from ideal.
I have OS X as my main OS nowadays on both my Mac Pro and Dell Mini both running VMware fusion with XPP. While this works just fine I wish solutions such as CrossOver was faster and more compatible.
I feel there are three categories of users wanting Windows based MIDs.
1. Those used to it and not wanting anything else as they know it and feel “at home” with it.
2. Those having the idea that you couldn’t have “real” or “full” computing without compromise without Windows.
3. Those for a reason or other (or many reasons) would love to have something BUT Windows but due to prg needs is forced to use Windows.
I consider myself to belong to cat 3 as I’d love something like the UMID with OS X but that isn’t possible for now so for MY needs I’ll settle for XP, just like I settle for fastfood at times due to it’s pracicality (fast unhealthy food better than NO food :))
I wish the maemoists don’t sleep until convinced nokia that this indefatigueable Os is bleeding for phone dialer, the truly openess is here not in s60, . shin on maemo for transmission p2p sake.
I have a n800. I think its the best gadget you can use when travel oversea. I can act as camera storage backup; Skype; tablet (that render much more website correctly than smartphones.) and mp3 player with cheap batteries.
HOWEVER, its not so good on day-to-day usable, when you can readily available power; 3G and real computer at home and at work.
It’s still a great solution by itself. But now that the cheap atom MID is here, getting closer and closer to the tablet’s price and size, I really don’t see point for the tablet anymore.
BTW, Maemo OS has not been a good platform. It was not adapted by anyone else, and it scares away paid developers. We end up with tons of free apps that offer very similar features and NONE has good UI. I am convinced free coders simply doesn’t understand the concept of ergonomic.
I’ve been using an N800 for over a year now. I was considering options to replace my vulnerable Palm Pilot. The Nokia platform has a lot of excellent features, but in the end it has been more of a toy for me than a tool. And though I really like the N800 (& the new 810) I will be replacing it soon with a more functional UMPC. I’ll probably let me kids have the N800 and I’ll pick up maybe something like the Fujitsu U810. But overall I’ve been pleased with the N800 and the Maemo community. It’s a good unit.
Ðаверное, Ñто один из интереÑнейших блогов, которые Ñ ÐºÐ¾Ð³Ð´Ð°-либо видел :). Отличные Ñтатьи, Ðктуальные комментарии. Так держать! :)
hello,-
please help me,-
how to upgrade maemo,-
please your send tutorial in email,-
thanks…..