After seeing some nice-looking screenshots from the spanking new gOS variant of Ubuntu Linux, I just had to give it a try. gOS is preloaded on a new line of "green" PC's from Everex, which are sold by Walmart for $199. This "green" machine boasts a ridiculously low current draw of 10 watts - about 1/10th what competing Intel- and AMD-based desktops draw. Green indeed; but what about this new operating system? What's all the fuss about?
gOS is a stripped-down version of Ubuntu "Gutsy Gibbon" wrapped in a beautifully designed lightweight window manager. The interface prominently features huge, highly-visible icons arranged along the lower edge of the desktop.
gOS is a mashup of the iPhone, OS X, Windows XP and Magic Cap (remember that one?) Rather than make the user figure out where the programs are, these huge, friendly colorful icons take you directly where you want to go, whether it's to a website such as Facebook, or to play some music with Rhythm Box. This is the first non-embedded operating system I've seen that overtly pushes direct links to web applications as the main toolset (vs desktop apps). This makes a great deal of sense for many users. I believe gOS is pointing the way forward for the next generation of web-centric operating systems (formerly known as "thin clients.) The desktop PC isn't dead yet; but it's on life support.
Clicking on one of the cheerful web application icons fires up Firefox and takes you to your destination very quickly. Since gOS is actually Ubuntu under the hood, I had the now-familiar problems with wireless network drivers. My trusty Dell E1505 has the Broadcom wireless chipset, which requires considerable effort and cleverness to get working with Ubuntu. Grrr.
OS X Leopard users will feel at home with gOS. The launch icons arranged at the bottom of the desktop are very similar to the Dock in OS X. The window title bar icons are nearly identical to OS X (three small round window control icons in left side of title bar).
However, clicking the friendly-looking green leaf icon in the lower left corner pops up a "Start" menu just like Windows. Double-clicking the title bar of a window toggles a window shade roll-up - a familiar and welcome function for getting windows out of the way quickly. Minimizing to the lower tray area is fine; but no window titles are included, making it confusing which Firefox icon is connected to which web page. There's no slick mouse-hover thumbnailing like Vista or Ubuntu's Beryl. This is a lightweight window manager, favoring speed over "everything and the kitchen sink" slickness.
Barry's Bottom Line: Could my Mom use gOS happily? Yes, if I set it up for her and got the drivers figured out in advance. The simplicity of the icon-driven web-centric features would be very attractive to many computer users, though it's not really ideal for power users: I had several problems getting common Ubuntu packages to run correctly (although many did run just fine).
I'm giving gOS a thumbs up. Its iPhone-like slickness makes me want to buy one of the Everex "green" PC's to see how the whole package stacks up (with the drivers and codecs installed).
gOS is what the future looks like.
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