MeeGo was developed as an OS for mobile devices and, according to the developers' idea, in the near future it should be firmly established on communicators and tablets, but until this happens, its capabilities can be tested on netbooks, which, in fact, we did. To install MeeGo, you need to download the operating system image from the developer's website, then burn it to media (it is best to use a flash card and flash drive), and then change it to BIOS settings boot disk on the flash drive, you can start loading the "OS".

As test stand used netbooks and Acer Aspire One 531H, booting the system on both devices was carried out from a flash drive.

MeeGo loads quite quickly - just over twenty seconds, after which the netbook is completely ready for work. Such agility is easily explained - MeeGo will have to work on mobile devices, and there "procrastination is like death."

Outwardly, the new "mobile" OS looks very unusual and does not look like Windows-type products that are familiar to everyone - the focus on portable devices Firstly. However, despite the external dissimilarity to anything seen before, the “OS” is simple and understandable, thanks to which even an unprepared and inexperienced user in such nuances can easily figure out its features literally after a few minutes of communication.

MeeGo uses the Qt library-based application development environment, which is a toolkit for software development in the C++ programming language. With Qt developers can create apps for multiple devices and platforms at once (any supported platform, not necessarily native to MeeGo), and then sell them through the Store Ovi (Ovi Store) and Intel AppUp SM Center.

Like its "adult" counterparts, the new "mobile" OS is quite flexible in terms of settings and allows you to customize the main parameters "for yourself."
The OS provides for: changing the background, changing the font type, style, size, and interface language - all this is configured in the "Settings" menu, which is divided into two sections: "Personal" and "Hardware".

Despite the support of a large number of languages, it was not possible to “translate” the MeeGo interface into Russian.

The MeeGo desktop consists of eight tabs: "Myzone", "Zones", "Application", "Status", "People", "Internet", "Media" and "Devices". Bookmarks can be added, deleted and swapped, the maximum number of bookmarks is ten. The first tab "Myzone" reflects Current state and show thumbnails open documents, files, browser windows, and running programs and applications.

The "Zones" tab "stores" open application windows, switching between which is carried out by the key combination "Alt" + "Tab". By opening this tab, you can see which programs are running and working in background and quickly switch to one of them.

The "Application" tab contains a set of applications and utilities for work and entertainment. All programs are divided into several groups: "accessories", "games", "Internet", "media", "office", "system applications".

The "Status" tab offers to create a web account.

The People tab is responsible for communicating with the outside world through Instant Messaging and Google Talk text messaging services. If you have already registered an account in these services, then logging in and setting up will take a few seconds, after which you can chat.

The "Internet" tab allows you to enjoy surfing the net. MeeGo installed Google browser Chrome. Those who are already familiar with the “chrome” browser from the world-famous search engine will once again be able to appreciate its capabilities, and those who have never encountered the increasingly popular browser until now will finally be able to get to know it better.

The Media tab is responsible for working with multimedia content: music and video.
As a universal media player, the Banshee application is used, designed to play audio and video files. Unfortunately, during the testing process, it was not possible to launch multimedia files and it was not possible to evaluate the capabilities of the video and audio player.

The "Devices" tab informs about the connected peripherals and flash drives and displays the structure of folders, directories and files of the system. What's where is also possible to see through the application File Browser.

The last tab informs about the state of the battery. The charge is displayed as a percentage, the remaining time until full discharge is not indicated. Such an indication is not very convenient when using MeeGo on a netbook or tablet, but it is traditional for “mobile” OS installed on communicators, since the operating time of this class of devices significantly exceeds the battery life of netbooks and it is not required to constantly monitor the battery status.

The set of applications and utilities installed in MeeGo allows you to work with the main file and document formats: in addition to the multimedia player and image viewer, the OS also comes pre-installed with the simplest text editor to work with text documents. However, no matter how hard I tried, I could not open documents in the “doc”, “docx” and “odt” formats, but the file in the “txt” format opened without any problems.

The main advantage of the new operating system is open source code, free distribution (including pre-installation on devices by many vendors) and wide opportunities for porting developed applications to other mobile operating systems (using the Qt toolkit). It is also important to work with various types processors and different devices, including tablets, smartphones, netbooks, TVs: here the joint platform of the two companies will look more appropriate than the young and “telephone” one Maemo.

Whether this “axis” will have a bright future will be shown by time, so far the main limitation is the fact that there are sorely lacking applications for the platform to perform most tasks. Now MeeGo is adapted for Internet browsing, communication via IM-clients, but there is no elementary work with documents yet, there are no many other obvious features for any OS. The popularity of MeeGo as a platform depends primarily on how soon the necessary minimum of applications will appear. However, for the same Nokia N900, a sufficient number of programs appeared during the year (a little less than 1000, which is not a lot, but we can't even talk about the lack of necessary functions). MeeGo supported a large number partners and developers (Intel), which should lead to an appropriate range of programs in perspective. But things aren't very rosy right now.

In December 2010, the release of a Russified version of the MeeGo operating system was announced, and several netbook models with this OS already installed were on sale at once. And when one of these netbooks (MSI Wind U160) appeared for testing in our editorial office, we decided to take the opportunity and get to know MeeGo better - because in this case the new OS is much more interesting than, in fact, a netbook.

Background and general information

We have already mentioned MeeGo in the news more than once - I think most readers are aware that this is a joint development of Nokia and Intel, primarily aimed at tablets, MIDs and netbooks. MeeGo is based on Linux, has an open source code (open source) and is free software that you can either download and install yourself (completely free of charge), or get it already as part of a finished product (for example, a netbook or nettop).

Direct predecessors of MeeGo - mobile operating system Maemo, developed by Nokia (Maemo can be seen on the Nokia N900 smartphone), and designed for netbooks with Intel Atom Moblin OS, created under the wing of Intel. In February 2010, it was announced that the two operating systems were merging, and the MeeGo OS just became the result of the merger.

The question immediately arises - why do Nokia and Intel need this, why combine two products that had their own purposes and features? In addition, in the case of Intel, there is also the question of why a company specializing in processors should get involved in the struggle of operating systems at all. But the answers to these questions, in fact, lie on the surface. Both Maemo and Moblin were not very successful. With the exception of people associated with this professionally, as well as a narrow handful of enthusiasts, few have even heard of them. And here comes the competitor Google Android- and immediately wins a huge success, pushing into the background all other mobile operating systems. Nokia and Intel understand that they simply cannot compete with Android alone. But united - completely. Nokia has great experience in the development of OS and applications, and its reputation in the smartphone market, although seriously undermined by an unsuccessful confrontation with Apple and Google, is still not completely lost. In turn, Intel has a huge influence in the netbook market (here Intel has a family of Atom processors) and is eyeing the rapidly growing tablet market (for which Intel created the Oak Trail platform). However, defeating a powerful competitor in the person of ARM, which, in fact, occupied the smartphone and tablet market, is unlikely to be achieved by a successful "iron" solution alone. We also need software products that would be optimized to work on mobile Intel hardware. Here is the answer to the second question, why Intel got into operating systems: MeeGo is one of Intel's trump cards in the battle for the netbook market and all kinds of MIDs (mobile Internet devices).

There is another reason: Intel, as one of the leading processor manufacturers for netbooks, does not want the netbook market to die under the onslaught of tablets. However, there is not a single specialized operating system for netbooks yet, except for a number of modifications of well-known Linux distributions (for example, Ubuntu Netbook Edition). Most netbooks run Windows XP, which will soon be 10 years old. It is clear that this is not The best decision. And more new Windows- too much load for weak netbooks, besides, and hitting the autonomy of the system. And then, Windows is not a free OS, its presence inevitably makes the netbook more expensive. Higher prices mean fewer buyers. Fewer buyers - less profit from the production of Intel Atom.

In addition, here we have to fear the ubiquitous Google, which is about to launch its Chrome OS on the market. This system is focused just on netbooks, but it implements a fundamentally different, "cloud" strategy: the main calculations take place remotely, via the Internet. Accordingly, the load on the processor is minimal, and performance will be increased by improving Internet channels, and not by improving the "iron" platform. It's clear that it's nothing good intel does not promise. In addition, Chrome OS supports ARM processors, which is really bad for Intel. In general, the reasons for the release of a joint operating system between Nokia and Intel are more than weighty. And, to the credit of both companies, it is worth noting that the developers did not delay with their product: already in the summer of 2010, the MeeGo distribution kit version 1.0 became available to the general public, and version 1.1 appeared in the autumn. It was release 1.1 that was Russified and installed on netbooks from several manufacturers, including Lenovo, MSI, iRu and DNS. MeeGo can also be seen on 3Q and iRu nettops. We invite you to watch iXBT TV's editorial video about iRu nettops.

However, if nettops with MeeGo are really on sale, then netbooks are not so easy to find. Moreover, one gets the feeling that the few models that were available to the press, in fact, are something of a demonstration specimen.

However, in the case of MeeGo, the availability of models with a pre-installed system is not critical, since, as already noted, the system is free, and you can download the distribution kit yourself, burn it to a flash drive and install it on any computer with a suitable configuration. Or you can even boot the system directly from a flash drive without making an installation.

The configuration requirements are: or Intel Atom processors / Intel Core 2 and Intel integrated graphics, or NVIDIA ION. Thus, the entire platform is "tied" to Intel processors (Intel Atom is also an integral part of the NVIDIA ION platform). True, if you run MeeGo through a virtual machine, then this limitation can also be bypassed (for example, you can run MeeGo on a computer with an AMD processor), but in this article we will not go so deep and will limit ourselves to acquaintance with the operating system itself installed on the MSI Wind U160 netbook , and also try to run MeeGo on it from a flash drive. This is quite enough to make a first impression of MeeGo and make some predictions about its prospects.

Interface

The operating system boots in about 26 seconds (if you count from the moment you press the power button to the moment when we can work with the OS). The first thing we see after loading is an almost empty desktop with only three elements: a MeeGo promotional video, an area with icons for several applications, and a section that displays scheduled appointments and tasks. The desktop is called Myzone and has very poor functionality: you can’t freely arrange icons, you can’t pull out folders, you can’t organize applications into folders (as in Apple iOS). The most annoying thing is that you can’t get away from this unfortunate video.

Myzone is supposed to auto-populate with new apps and also display statuses social networks and the last web pages you opened. But the idea was not implemented very well - there is almost no real help from this. Plus, on a netbook with a mouse pointer, you want a lot more freedom than the Myzone gives you. That is, this solution is clearly focused on smartphones and tablets, but not on netbooks. Other elements of the OS interface also speak of the orientation towards MID: the interface was clearly created for finger control, which, on the one hand, is good (why without finger control in mobile devices?), And on the other hand, the question arises: what are the advantages of this system for netbooks compared to, say, Google Android? And in general, is it possible to create a universal OS that is equally convenient on netbooks with traditional mouse control (or its imitation on the trackpad), and on touch devices? MeeGo (at least in the current version) does not have such universalism and, therefore, does not provide an answer to this question.

But, let's look at other features of the OS interface. In general, the interface is organized according to the principle of tabs. At the top we see a panel on which there are icons representing the tabs: Myzone, Zones, Applications, Status, People, Internet, Data, Devices, Bluetooth, Networks, Time and date, as well as a battery indicator. We have already dealt with Myzone, Zones are a tool for working with open applications(displays thumbnails of all running applications and allows you to switch between them), Applications - a directory of all installed apps(we will return to it later).

Actually, it is Applications that becomes the most frequently used tab - perhaps it was worth dividing the applications into several tabs, combining the following two into one - Status and People. These are tabs for displaying social network statuses and communication through various IM clients. In principle, the idea is not bad, but many people do not use social networks and instant messengers so actively ...

Next comes the Internet tab, which contains Internet bookmarks and the last pages you visited. It would seem logical, but the browser itself is launched from another tab - Applications (or from Myzone). This is where some confusion comes from.

The Data tab shows the player and video/audio file library; here with the content everything is obvious and reasonable, but the question arises - why is it called Data?

Everything is clear with the rest of the elements of the top panel: Bluetooth turns on the corresponding module, Devices displays connected devices (for example, USB drives), as well as the current status and settings of the computer - remaining battery charge, screen brightness, volume, amount of available disk space; the Networks tab allows you to connect to Wi-Fi and Ethernet, while the clock and battery icons show the time and remaining battery capacity, respectively. It should be noted that the charge icon is not very clear, that is, it is problematic to understand from it whether 30 or 60 percent are left.

So, as we see, there are quite a lot of claims - small and more serious. Therefore, after getting acquainted with the contents of all tabs, a logical question arises: is it possible to change these tabs, delete some and add others? The answer is yes, you can. This is done through Applications / Accessories / Options / Customize the toolbar. However, there are relatively few options available: you can remove the Status, People, Internet, Data, Bluetooth tabs, and add Gadgets (they can be downloaded from the Internet, but they will only be displayed on the Gadgets tab) and Clipboard (in the version of the operating system installed on an MSI netbook, there was no Gadgets option).

Probably, in the future there will be much more options for customizing the interface, but so far there is nothing much to boast about MeeGo. Gadgets (which are useless anyway because they don't show up in Myzone), the desktop background in Myzone, slight variations on icons in the top bar... It's not enough. Surely some companies creating products on MeeGo will try to offer something of their own, and at the same time make some efforts to change appearance systems - tab icons painted in cheerful colors look funny, of course, but this style is not very suitable for serious products. In general, MeeGo really lacks that gloss and “lickiness” that iOS, BlackBerry OS, some android options(for example, in Samsung devices)… However, in our opinion, it's a matter of time. Still, do not forget that we have the first version of the operating system.

Applications

The next point that we will look at are the applications installed on MeeGo. Since MeeGo is an open source system, available for any changes and add-ons, a set of applications in different assemblies is different. For example, in the version that was downloaded from the official website of the Russian Linux Center and written to a flash drive, there was Garage (application storage for MeeGo), VLC Player, as well as Skype and some additional utilities and games. The version installed on the MSI netbook did not have all this. But there was a cryptic MSI profile app, which turned out to be just a shortcut to a video promoting MSI.

However, the main components in all assemblies should be the same: this is the Chromium browser, the OpenOffice.org office suite, mail client Evolution, various IM clients, the Banshee player... All in all, applications that are very popular in the Linux environment and are familiar to most users of Linux-based systems. So obviously MeeGo hasn't gone too far from its core. Does this mean that programs written for other Linux distributions will work for it? And if so, for which ones?

Unfortunately, the programs require even a small, but still optimization for MeeGo. "Advanced" Linux users can experiment with installing some Linux applications through the Terminal (which is located at Applications / System and is controlled by traditional Linux commands). But for this you need to know the system password. If you install MeeGo from scratch, then you set the password and computer name yourself, but if it is already installed, then you need to know it. In the case of the system that was installed on an MSI netbook, we were never able to guess the password.

No less extraordinary actions are required to uninstall installed applications. To do this, go to Applications / System / Application Management, but there will not be a list of specific programs, but the name of various packages, according to which not every user will immediately guess which program is meant (besides, there are several packages for each program ). The simplest thing here is to enter the name of the program in the search box and remove all the packages that appear in the list. Although, again, it is not a fact that ordinary users who are not familiar with the nuances of Linux will be able to do everything cleanly and competently.

Also, there are complaints file manager(File browser). Firstly, it is not as intuitive and convenient as in Android or Windows, and secondly, its location is extremely inconvenient: to find a file, you have to go to Applications / Accessories / Browse files. At the same time, as already mentioned, it is impossible to take out a document or folder directly to the desktop.

In general, in terms of working with applications, MeeGo is not a user system like iOS or even Android, but a typical Linux assembly - a product for professionals and enthusiasts.

What about Garage app storage? - you ask. Indeed, it is easy and convenient to install applications through Garage, but on this moment there are only about two dozen applications.

It is clear that if MeeGo develops successfully, the number of applications will increase many times over. But - so far it is not. Therefore, you should not place high hopes on Garage. In addition, Garage does not solve the difficulty of deleting applications.

Social networks and blogs

Following the fashion for integrating social networks into software, MeeGo developers have provided the ability to download news from popular social services and blogs. Russian developers did not make life easier for themselves and expanded the list of American social networks with popular domestic resources - Vkontakte, Moi [email protected] and LiveJournal (LJ). And everything seems to be working - the activities of friends on Facebook and Vkontakte are displayed promptly, new messages are loaded from the LiveJournal feed... But MeeGo incorrectly displays many messages and almost all graphic elements and video inserts. That is, instead of a photo in a friend feed, we get a cumbersome code.

In addition, the functionality of the application (if we consider the tool for working with social networks and blogs as an application) leaves much to be desired: we can only observe other people's activity, but we ourselves cannot change or write anything (at least on Facebook, Vkontakte and LiveJournal, which we checked). Thus, although the idea is good, it is not possible to seriously talk about its implementation. This is not even a beta, but just a preliminary sketch.

Launch and install MeeGo from a flash drive

As already mentioned, you can not only get MeeGo along with a new netbook / nettop, but also download and install it yourself. The official Russian distribution is located at . We download it, write it to a flash drive - and you can boot directly from a flash drive or install the system on a hard drive. The system is installed "from scratch" very quickly - in just a few minutes. However, even if your computer (netbook, nettop) fully complies with the stated system requirements (which we listed above), and the installation phase went smoothly, be prepared for problems. The most likely of these problems is the lack of drivers for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules. Also, the webcam may not work. Of course, you can try your luck and find drivers on the Internet, but the likelihood of success in this case is extremely small. And besides, even if you find the right drivers, the process of installing them in the OS will be very extraordinary (for users unfamiliar with Linux systems).

Other problems

The stability of the system, in principle, did not cause serious complaints - both the version that was on the netbook and the version from the flash drive worked quite stably during the testing process, that is, they never crashed and did not freeze during operation. However, the MSI build kept losing wireless network(after which I immediately found it - but still, the flashing of messages about this was pretty annoying), and also regularly demanded to “register the version of SUSE MeeGo” even after the registration had already been made (by the way, the mention of SUSE gives us reason to assume which Linux distribution was taken as a basis). In addition, it was not possible to update the system (via Application / System). Perhaps the system did this automatically, which is unlikely, but then why do you need a system update utility?

In turn, the Linuxcenter distribution kit, when launched from a flash drive, constantly issued a message about system error(which, however, did not prevent him from working safely later), and when he tried to launch applications that accessed the webcam, he fell into a stupor. But in the latter, we tend to blame the lack of necessary drivers.
Finally, a humorous problem that no longer relates to specific assemblies, but to MeeGo in general: the system does not have the ability to programmatically shutdown or reboot. That is, you can’t reboot the device at all (if you use the “human” interface, and not conjure in the Terminal), and you can turn it off only by pressing the power button. By the way, when you turn it off several times, the netbook still freezes. This is not such a big problem as if it freezes in the process (after all, the latter is fraught with data loss), but still it is impossible not to mention it.

Of course, we can say that all of the above are trifles and "childhood illnesses" of the system, but from such trifles most people get a general idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe convenience of the OS.

MeeGo and smartphones

The relationship between MeeGo and smartphones has developed and is developing rather strangely. One model, the LG GW900, was announced as the first mobile device to feature the new operating system. Beyond the concept, which was demonstrated behind closed doors, things did not move. The Korean manufacturer did not take risks with an alternative platform and focused on the Android OS. Things were no better for Nokia. During 2010, potential users were regularly fed rumors about the prototypes N9-00 (a smartphone with a slide-out keyboard M-680 Dali) and N9-01 (a Lankku tablet). In February 2011 Nokia N950 was leaked, but there is only one on the market at the moment production model smartphone running the MeeGo operating system. This is a MID with a sliding keyboard that can be taught to everything that is on smartphones and computers. Maemo 5.0, installed on the Nokia N900, gets along well with emulators, supports gaming applications from HP webOS, allows you to customize your android version 2.3 and is ready to make room for a while to give us the opportunity to get acquainted with MeeGo.

Yes, yes, even today Nokia N900 users can install the necessary software to run MeeGo 1.1 on their Internet tablets, but this version is not yet suitable for full-fledged work and is designed for software developers.

The procedure for installing MeeGo on the Nokia N900 will not seem complicated, but it cannot be called simple either. The instructions below have been tested on Nokia N900 with PR 1.3 firmware.

First, download a set of programs: Maemo Flasher 3.5, win32-ImageWriter, MeeGo image and meego-handset-armv7l-n900-1.1-vmlinuz-2.6.35.3-10.3-n900 kernel file.

conclusions

In general, the first Russified version of MeeGo gives the impression of an interesting and promising concept, which so far cannot be recommended to ordinary users - that is, to those for whose wallets Nokia and Intel so much want to compete with Google and Apple. Along with a lot of minor flaws and features (which will probably be fixed in the next OS releases), MeeGo sins with the fact that the “legacy” of Linux is too visible here, and if this is a plus for “Linuxoids” (even the applications are all familiar, not to mention the methods work with the system!), then for the general public - a huge minus.

Nevertheless, the system has prospects, and if desired, all the shortcomings can be corrected rather quickly. But in order to still get a full-fledged and convincing product, developers must clearly define what audience they are targeting: enthusiasts who will turn off the computer with the sudo shutdown command in the Terminal, or iOS and Android users. In addition, it would be nice to provide differences in the MeeGo interface for netbooks, nettops and MIDs. In the meantime, it turns out that MeeGo is trying to sit on several chairs. Or chase several hares - with a known result.

P.S. Already when this article was ready, about the union of Nokia and Microsoft, in fact, meaning the rejection of Nokia's further participation in the work on MeeGo. So now Intel will have to develop MeeGo. Well, you can wish Intel success. We, in turn, will closely monitor the fate of this operating system.

The desire to earn more will always push people to great stupidity. Oftentimes, some unknown force forces manufacturers of technology and software developers to invent things that no one needs, advertise them on every corner as a unique and unparalleled achievement of progress, and kill millions on a PR company only to say at the end: “Sorry guys, we screwed up"

Unfortunately, in Lately we hear this phrase quite often - at almost every IT exhibition, this or that company presents its next stupidity, sincerely hoping for it. that she will really be able to make a revolution with her help, to capture the world and make good money. And this sin is not only small companies, to which all mistakes can be forgiven because of the short-sightedness or inexperience of the people at the helm, but the titan companies, who, being too self-confident, are sometimes weirder than some newcomers.

The hero of today's article has much deeper roots than you, dear reader, can imagine. This is the story of MeeGo, the universal operating system for mobile electronic devices, which was developed by Intel together with Nokia. Why a fairly innovative OS could not find its place under the sun, even despite the huge opportunities and potential, you will find out today.

The era of Finnish power

The early 2000s were marked by an incredible rise for Nokia. She was the first to make a mobile phone really a means of communication, and not an attribute of a luxurious life, as it was before. Aggressive pricing policy and a whole mountain of all kinds of models that appeared almost every two weeks made the rest of the manufacturers seriously chill, losing most of the market to the Finns. With the advent of the first smartphones, in which the functionality finally stepped over the possibilities of a phone book with a voice call, many users immediately had a desire to turn their phone into a kind of pocket computer as soon as possible. Customers wanted to go online, install their own programs, code in Java, and create their own applications.

Already in 2005, Nokia openly said that its new OS was on the solid foundation of the Linux Debian, and hinted with a smirk that soon its mobile devices would be able to boast an operating system that had much more in common with a full-fledged Linux than Windows CE with Windows Mobile. In fact, for three years the Finns have been optimizing the Linux kernel for the needs of devices with ARM-based processors and actively writing test applications, trying them on for the capabilities of tiny tablets. At the end of 2008, the beta testing stage was completed and Nokia decided to take more serious steps by announcing the renaming of its brainchild to MeeGo, a mobile operating system based on the Linux kernel for Internet tablets and smartphones. And so that no one doubts the convenience of using Linux in mobile devices, Nokia hastily released its N700, N800 and N810 rePDAs. And I must say, these devices were not received as warmly as the Finns expected - the reigning Windows Mobile, which settled in 80% of all communicators, suited users much more. Yes, Linux is more familiar to programmers and enthusiasts, but for a simple user, the choice was obvious. In addition, there was much more software on WM, and the segment of devices based on it surprised with its diversity - you could buy a communicator for 6,000 rubles or 20,000 - I don’t want to choose. It was then that Nokia became worried about the future of its OS, in which it has invested a lot of effort and money. She needed an ally who would help expand the audience of users and make a new, previously little-known OS users no less popular and "native" than Windows Mobile.

Weak? But economical and cheap!

In 2007, the first thunder of the impending storm hit - the company released the first netbook models based on the slightly outdated, but very cheap Intel Celeron M ULV 753, which was previously used in a few Tablet PC in 2005-2006. This processor was a stripped-down version of the very productive Pentium M, which would later become the prototype Intel architectures core. Despite good overall performance, the first wave of netbooks faced a very serious problem - high, even for an ultra-economical CPU, power consumption. Cut in frequency from 900 to 630 MHz, the Celeron M ULV 753 processors consumed too many precious watts, and the market suddenly needed a new CPU with modest appetites. The solution to this situation was the announcement Intel processors Atom: to ease the "transistor budget" and maximize energy savings, the chip designers had to remove everything that was possible.

The processor, as everyone knows, turned out to be very slow, and in most cases went out due to SSES instructions, quite high clock frequency at 1600 MHz and features architectural flaws in the processor. However, cunning Intel engineers managed to keep within a miserable 47 million transistors, and even set the power consumption at around 2 watts. I must say that at first this CPU even suited everyone - it was enough for elementary tasks and Windows XP. However, as soon as Microsoft announced that the old XP was leaving the market and its place was taken by Windows 7, which was registered even in the netbook segment, intel ok fussed - a new OS would not be the best option for a slow Atom. In addition, the emerging boom of Mobile Internet Devices strongly hinted at the need to install less demanding software. Around the middle of 2008, Intel for the first time demonstrates its operating time for netbooks - based on Linux OS Moblin.

Long before the announcement of Moblin, there were dozens of lightweight Linux builds specifically optimized for the needs of netbooks. Yes, and why go far - the first generation of ASUS netbooks were partially shipped with Xandros pre-installed - a Linux assembly that allowed you to save extra dollars and not overpay for Windows XP, thereby reducing the price tag. Ho Intel wanted to stir up its distribution, which compares favorably with the crafts presented on the market, because so far not a single specialized OS has been announced for the entire segment of netbooks that would make the most of the device's resources.

And Moblin turned out to be, in principle, a good OS - it effortlessly used the power GPU to draw a nice interface and had very modest system requirements - she needed core processor 2 or Atom with support for SSES instructions. It must be said that AMD processors were excluded from support for the exclusively developed OS, so that numerous devices based on the much more productive AMD Athlon Neo were left out of the supported list of chips.

But, as it often happens, limiting itself to a meager list of supported CPUs (only Intel x86) and processor architectures (and, as a result, devices), Intel miscalculated - for some reason no one wanted to use its operating system. First, they simply did not know about it; and secondly, those who wanted to install a lighter OS on their netbook did so a long time ago, launching special builds of Ubuntu Netbook Edition. So cooperation with Nokia could play into the hands of the developer of processors, and would allow creating a universal OS for the entire segment of mobile devices - from tablets, which have just begun to gain popularity, to netbooks and even smartphones.

Birth of MeeGo

The merger of Moblin and MeeGo began almost at the same moment when Android gained enough strength to throw Windows Mobile off the pedestal of the best OS for communicators and smartphones. In this situation, both Nokia and Intel breathed a sigh of relief - it suddenly became clear to them that they had decided at the right time to jointly resist a very strong competitor. The cocktail of two operating systems was named simply and concisely - MeeGo. In the summer of 2010, when tablet computers and smartbooks (hello Toshiba AC 1001) based on Google Android 2.2 were already being advertised with might and main, Intel and Nokia, which was rather battered by competitors, first introduced MeeGo to the public. The reaction among developers and users was restrained - everyone liked the new unified OS, but Android was already taking its place. new system the public promised a rich, but very difficult future.

To be honest, the product of the joint work of Nokia and Intel was good for everyone, only it should have been born about two years earlier, when Android was just gaining momentum and had not yet had time to register in every second mobile device. This was followed by a monotonous release of preliminary test builds for developers and enthusiasts - the market needed to be prepared for the launch of the OS. allowing everyone to test the novelty on their devices. In August 2010, MeeGo SDK was announced - a set for application developers, and in October of the same year, Intel made a presentation of three directions for the development of the operating system - for smartphones, netbooks and on-board car computers. It would seem that everything goes on as usual, and it takes quite a bit of time to collect enough software and finally roll out the finished product to the market.

By the end of 2010, Nokia, once a largest producer mobile phones, was far from in the best shape. Android and iOS rivals have long reigned in much of the smartphone market, and the only market segment where Nokia still managed to hold its ground was cheap phones based on the Series 40 and Series 60 platforms. Rapidly losing positions and profits, the Nokia board of directors decided that MeeGo alone could not fix the situation, and the open source operating system was unlikely to bring the desired victory. At that time, the company needed shock therapy and a completely different ally, which would partly save Nokia from the need to develop its own OS, offering a ready-made alternative. Adopting Android, as Samsung, NTS, Acer, Motorola and Sony Ericson did, would be obviously wrong - if Nokia followed this path, its once considered prestigious products would suddenly mix with the developments of competitors.

It was then, in November 2010, that Microsoft extended a helping hand to the Finns, offering cooperation and reorientation to the platform Windows phone 7. The proposal was met with a mixed response - there was a lot of controversy and disagreement about this, but the new CEO of Nokia, Stephen Elop, took it seriously and agreed to cooperate, abandoning MeeGo. Intel, having lost its ally and main partner in promoting the operating system, was forced to concentrate exclusively on netbooks, in fact, abandoning the version of MeeGo for smartphones. This OS simply did not have a single interested company, except for Nokia, which would want to participate in the development and improvement of a young and still very crude operating system.

Big plans, small results

However, the history of Nokia and mobile version MeeGo doesn't end there. The board of directors was tearing up and metal, demanding the resignation of Stephen Elop, who agreed to cooperate with Microsoft, which, by the way, with its Windows Mobile a couple of years ago, laid the foundation for the gradual slide of Nokia and its smartphones into the abyss of obscurity. In order to teach the elders on the council a lesson, still remembering the days when Nokia was a manufacturer of rubberized clothing and galoshes, Elop started a really daring chess game. He agreed to further cooperation with Intel and the release of at least a couple of smartphones on MeeGo.

In the summer of 2011, Nokia presented MeeGo 1.2, specially tailored for the previously released N900 smartphone based on Maeto. met this development was very restrained - yes, the OS was perfectly optimized for this phone, however, despite all its splendor, the N900 itself was not very popular, so there were few owners of this communicator by the time MeeGo 1.2 was announced. For enthusiasts, the N900 with MeeGo was a boon - for coding-savvy professionals, having a tiny computer preloaded with mobile Linux (not unlike the desktop version) was a real treat. Even the terminal function with the commands familiar to a Linux programmer has been preserved. But for ordinary users the duo of N900 and MeeGo seemed much less attractive than a simple one, like the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy plug, which featured a friendlier interface and a whole bunch of programs available through the programs. In the autumn of the same year, Nokia N9 appeared - a device with a very good filling, which was supposed to become the flagship in model range Finnish company. Inside the smartphone, the gigahertz Cortex A8, flavored with gigabytes, worked with might and main random access memory and a separate graphics accelerator PowerVR SGX530. The hardware turned out to be very good (although not outstanding - competitors by this time were already using dual-core solutions with might and main), it had a fully optimized MeeGo 1.2 installed. That's just the convenience of its use was very doubtful for ordinary users. An unfamiliar interface, a small number of applications (a few hundred, while iOS and Android have hundreds of thousands) - even the advertising hung on the central streets of Europe's largest cities did not save.

Nokia N9 was purchased by shops in tiny volumes and more for show than for sale. It was then that Stephen Elop revealed his cunning plans - using the N9 as an example, he showed what Nokia was waiting for if it remained devoted to Intel, and continued cooperation on MeeGo. The Board of Directors calmed down and began to contact Microsoft more closely, hoping to put the N9 on the rails and finally start making money. Meanwhile, Intel did not calm down. In mid-2011, she announced that MeeGo is the most alive and will soon become the basis for a new generation of inexpensive $ 200 netbooks based on a slightly sluggish version of the Atom N435. Manufacturers supported this idea and released several cheaper netbooks based on the free MeeGo. And this step nevertheless returned the interest in this type of device that had died down before and distracted from the annoying tablets. The only irony is that the happy buyers of these inexpensive devices still blew MeeGo to hell, formatted the hard drive and flooded the familiar Windows XP, which for many is still the main home OS.

In domestic retail netbooks on MeeGo democratic price do not differ - the price tag for these models starts from 7-8 thousand rubles. At the same time, a netbook based on a faster processor and a regular Linux assembly will cost an average of 500-700 rubles more; version with Windows 7 Starter can be found for 8000-9000 "wooden". The savings, as you can see, are quite small, and the netbook is just the device that is purchased without an OS at all, the user himself will install on it what the soul is more disposed to and what will meet the set requirements as much as possible.

The question involuntarily begs: is it really so much effort and time was spent just to produce netbooks for $ 30 cheaper than the rest? Who knows, perhaps in the future the situation will change and MeeGo will become the basis for promising smartphones on Intel-based Atom Z600. Alas, we will not know this until at least the next CeBIT, so we can sadly state the fact that the patient is barely breathing, he needs shock therapy again. Whether it will be decided by Intel. And if it does not present a finished product based on a processor-competitor of ARM solutions in the near future, MeeGo will be given up as a bad job.

Video MeeGo review on the example of Nokia N9

MeeGo is an open source project developed jointly by Intel and Nokia for laptop and netbook users. MeeGo OS is a combined project of Intel's Moblin and Nokia's Maemo. MeeGo provides extensive support for touch commands, making it a complete platform for netbooks and tablet computers and also for application development. MeeGo is a lightweight, updatable and fast operating system.

The MeeGo operating system has the following features:

• Fully flexible and simple interface design.
• Easy to use operating system.
• An open source project supported by the Linux Foundation forum.
• Compatible with laptops, tablet PCs and portable devices.
• Built-in applications required for work - browser, media players and so on.

In order for the MeeGo operating system to be installed on your device, you can perform two options:

• Install OS from disk.
• Install from a USB flash drive.

How does it happen?

Download the MeeGo OS image from the official website and write it to USB disk. Be sure to check the memory capacity of the flash drive in advance (it should be significantly larger than the MeeGo image file).

Now, in order to burn the image file to USB, you will need special software, since ordinary copying to a USB drive will not work.

If you are Windows user, you need software called Win32DiskImager.

Installation instructions for Windows users

1. Download Win32DiskImager and extract the ZIP to an appropriate folder.

2. Download Win32DiskImager.exe from the folder. Select the MeeGo image (.IMG) from the file you downloaded. Select a drive letter for your USB drive (for example drive F).

3. Click on the button to burn and select "burn image to USB".

4. Once the progress of the recording process is completed, proceed to the next step.

Installation instructions for Linux users MeeGo

Using the Image Writer, run a Python script that will detect your USB drive and then write the image to it. The advantage of using image recording is that there is no risk of accidentally overwriting information on your system hard drive. Run the following command to write the file images one by one.

# chmod + x. / Image Writer

#. / Image Writer

Use the "DD" command to exit the terminal.

Instructions for Mac OS X Users

1. Open a terminal (Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal).

2. Order the DiskUtil list by type to see the entire list of devices.

3. Insert the USB and enter the following command unmountDisk /dev/diskN (replace N with the number of the USB disk).

4. Then enter the command udo dd if=/path/to/downloaded.img of=/dev/diskN bs=1m (path should be replaced with the downloaded image).

5. Then type diskutil eject /dev/diskN (N is the number of the USB drive).

6. Download the image to your netbook.

7. Insert the USB drive into your netbook and restart your computer. Make sure the boot order is set up so that the USB drive starts up first. The MeeGo operating system will now start loading automatically. . From the first seconds, you will be able to make sure that the download takes place in a matter of seconds, and the system interface is extremely easy and understandable for every user. In addition, the OS has built-in programs necessary for the full use of the netbook.

21
Jan
2011

MeeGo v1.1 Netbook

Release year: 2010
Genre: Operating systems
Developer: Nokia, Intel, Linux Foundation
Developer site: http://meego.com/
Architecture: MeeGo
Interface language: English
Platform: x86
File Format: img
System requirements:

RAM 128Mb
Video 64Mb
x86 processor one of

Intel Atom-based netbooks
-Intel Atom-based handset (Moorestown)
-Intel Atom-based in-vehicle

Description:

MeeGo is a platform announced by Intel and Nokia corporations at the Mobile Congress in Barcelona, ​​which will be a hybrid of Moblin (Mobile Linux) and Maemo mobile systems. The first version (1.0) of MeeGo appeared on May 26, 2010, and OS-based devices will appear before the end of 2010.
MeeGo is designed to work on a wide range of devices including smartphones, tablets and netbooks. This will allow you to create applications that, without adaptation, will work on several types of devices at once. The app store for MeeGo will be Nokia's Ovi Store.
MeeGo is an independent operating system, which, however, uses the work of such projects as Maemo, Moblin, Fedora and Debian.
The MeeGo system is completely open, its source codes are published. Intel and Nokia said that all hardware companies will have equal access to MeeGo

Additional Information:

Asus EeePC 901, 1000H, 1005HA, 1008HA, EeePC 1005PE, Eeetop ET1602
Dell mini10v, Inspiron Mini 1012
Acer Aspire One D250, AO532-21S, Revo GN40, Aspire 5740-6025
Lenovo S10
MSI U130, AE1900
HP mini 210-1044
Toshiba NB302

20
mar
2010

Korg Legacy Collection VST v1.23, v1.32, v1.0.2

Release year: 2007
Genre: VST instruments
Developer: Korg
Developer website: www.korguser.net
Interface language: English
Platform: Windows XP
System requirements: Celeron (R) CPU 2.40 GHZ, 512 MB RAM
Description: In our time, Korg instruments enjoy great prestige among musicians around the world. Pro modern instruments Korg can also be said to be cutting edge for our times. They use the most modern technologies and unique engineering solutions. But any devices sooner or later become obsolete and are removed from production. Many legacy synthesizers have...

29
aug
2010

Norton 360 4.1.0.32 + Norton 360 4.1.0.32 Netbook Edition + Trial Reset

Release year: 2010
Genre: Antivirus
Developer: Symantec Corporation
Developer site: http://www.symantec.com/ru/ru/norton/index.jsp
Interface language: Russian
Platform: Windows XP, Vista, 7 System Requirements hardware*300 MHz processor or better *256 MB RAM (512 MB recommended) *300 MB free disk space * Internet Explorer® 6.0 or later or Mozilla Firefox® 3.0 or later *Internet connection (for network Reserve copy high-speed connection required) To protect against fi...

29
oct
2010

Panda Internet Security 2011 16.00.00 + Netbook Edition

Release year: 2010
Genre: Antivirus
Developer: Panda Security
Developer website: http://www.pandasecurity.com/russia/
Interface language: Multilingual (Russian is present)
Platform: Windows XP, Vista, Vista x64, 7, 7 x64
System requirements:
Processor: Pentium 300 MHz or faster
RAM: 128 MB without TruPrevent 512 MB with TruPrevent (1 GB recommended)
Hard disk: 275 MB free space MS Internet Explorer 6.0 Panda internet security 2011 - allows you to use the Internet for any task, for example, to work with online banks...

13
sep
2008

Joke-BOX v1.1 - Send sms (sms) anonymously

Release year: 2008
Genre: funny, prank
Developer: unknown
Publisher: unknown
Developer website: www.mobius.com.ua
Interface language: English + Russian
Platform: Java
System requirements: Mobile phone, smart phone, communicator supporting Java
Description: Joke-BOX is a unique collection of cool SMS messages with anonymous sending function. Java application suitable for anyone mobile phone, the program is designed to send anonymous SMS messages! The program supports operators from 21 countries of the CIS, the Baltics and
Europe: Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, ...

10
july
2017

Version: v1.1
Developer: Design as Religion
Demo: __designasreligion.com/spline/
Tablet: no CMS required: html
Compound: PHP files, HTML files, CSS files, JS files
Description: Templates for creating attractive, animated backgrounds for websites.
Additional Description: Reveal
Robot Translated: Animated background with HTML canvas with many settings 6 predefined flat color schemes and 3 custom options Countdown with 2 styles Fully responsive Retina ready Font awesome icon font Clean and valid HTML5/CSS3 code Styles written LESS Working...

05
dec
2007

System requirements: Windows Mobile 5
Description: Google Maps Mobile ver 1.2.0.13 - Take advantage of the wide range of opportunities Google Maps on the PDA. Detailed Directions - Whether it's a walking or driving route, it's shown right on the map, along with detailed directions. Integrated search results - Location of companies and their Contact Information indicated on the map. Easily move around the maps - interactive maps can be zoomed in, zoomed out and moved in any direction to visually navigate the terrain. Satellite photos - take a bird's eye view of the world. D...

09
aug
2008

ContrastMaster v1.0

Release year: 2008
Genre: Image Contrast Enhancer Plugin
Developer: H. Heim M. Heim
Publisher: Harald Heim devsite: www.thepluginsite.com
Interface language: English
Platform: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista

Description : ContrastMaster - ContrastMaster is a plugin for effective contrast enhancement as well as creating dramatic contrast looks, photorealistic paintings and HDR-like effects. Turns ordinary photos into colorful, vibrant and dynamic paintings. The plugin works with dozens graphic applications, such as Adobe Photoshop, ...

05
Jan
2010

Tuning car studio v1

Release year: 2008
Genre: Graphics and design
Developer: JStudio
Developer website: http://www.jstudio.de/
Interface language: English

System Requirements: Minimum
Description: Tuning Car Studio is a software package that allows the user to "pro-tuning" his favorite car, having only her photo. Make a painting, put the wheels, tinted windows, put the bumper... everything that is possible! With Tuning Car Studio you can completely transform your car visually. There are practically no restrictions here, only your fa...

07
Jan
2010

Object Dock v1.90

Object Dock 1.90
Release year: 2006
Genre: Desktop decoration
Developer: Stardock
Developer site: http://www.stardock.com/
Interface language: Russian + English
Platform: Windows XP, Vista, 2000
System Requirements: Minimum
Description: Stardock ObjectDock - Replacing the system bar in the style of Mac OS - when you hover over any icon placed on the Dock, it increases in size. On the Dock, you can place shortcuts from any programs; in addition, icons from already running programs are placed on it (as on the system windows panel), as well as some system icons- korz...

21
july
2010

Little Registry Cleaner v1.42

Release year: 2010
Genre: Registry
Developer: Geeknet Inc.
Developer site: http://sourceforge.net
Interface language: Russian
Platform: Windows XP, Vista, 7
System requirements: P4 Celeron 2.4. 128 MB
Description: Little Registry Cleaner This simple program to clean the registry with the necessary functions in the form of creating backups and a list of exclusions. The program cleans your computer from accumulated garbage and unused files. Open source program, small and extremely fast. After installing all that is needed is to run the registry scanner. After testing...

03
aug
2008

Machines at War v1.2

Release year: 2008
Genre: Real Time Strategy (RTS)
Developer: Isotope 244
Publisher: Isotope 244 devsite: http://www.isotope244.com/
Interface language: Russifier included
Platform: WM 2003, WM5, WM6
System requirements: QVGA, VGA and square displays. 9 MB is occupied by the game itself 10 MB of free RAM is required when playing (preferably 15 MB)
Description: A strategy game that develops in real time, with a random selection of cards. The goal is to gain world domination through the competent management of a powerful military machine. Command, develop your army and conquer enemies. ...

03
Feb
2008

Year of release: 2007 developer: Psiloc
Publication type: license
Interface language: only English
Medicine: Present
Platform: symbian 9
System requirements: phone with IR port and symbian 9
Description: A program for controlling equipment through the infrared port, now for 9 symbian!
Add. Information: In the archive, the SignSis certification program instructions for certification and a program for creating a certificate at

21
sep
2008

Explode Arena v1.2

Release year: 2007
Genre: Games
Developer: INFINITE DREAMS
Publisher: INFINITE DREAMS devsite: http://mobile.idreams.pl/main.php
Interface language: English
Platform: Windows Mobile 6
Description: An action game that you can play alone or with your 4 friends via Bluetooth. You need to run, blow up the enemy, dodge his bombs. In a single player game, you have to fight against bots endowed with a very high intelligence. In multiplayer mode, deathmatch, deathmatch team, last man standing, capture the flag modes are available. Over 30 beautifully drawn cards will keep you entertained...

20
May
2008

Smartcomgps.v1.55-s60v3 (Map of Moscow with search for streets, metro and other) (2008)

Release year: 2008
Genre: navigation
Developer: Wild Mobile
Publication type: license
Interface language: only Russian
Medicine: Present
Platform: symbian 9.2
System requirements: for Nokia smartphones series60 for Nokia series60 3d Edition smartphones
Description: excellent map of moscow
Add. information:
Map installation: Unpack .ogf2 and .map files For UIQ platform: D:Media filesDocumentSmartComGPS or C:DocumentsMedia filesDocumentSmartComGPS For Series 60 platform: E:DocumentsSmartComGPS or C:DocumentsSmartComGPS For Series 60 3rd edition platform: E:DataSmartComGPS or C: DataSmartComG...