HP Makes Custom Ubuntu Distro for Netbooks

HP has released quite possibly the most beautiful version of Ubuntu for netbooks.

HP Mini 1000 Mi Edition Homescreen

It's no surprise that netbooks are slower than your typical notebook.  It's one of the reasons why many have tried to make it run faster using alternative operating systems such as Linux.

Hewlett Packard has just released a customized version of Ubuntu specifically made for their HP Mini 1000 Mi Edition. It is based on Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron, featuring most of the basic applications that normally come along with Ubuntu. These include OpenOffice.org, Firefox, Pidgin, etc etc.  

Booting up the system will come as a surprise, the GUI doesn't even look like Ubuntu. DownloadSquad's Brad Linder has stated,

"If you click the Start New Program button, a program launcher will open that separates your applications into Internet, Media, Utilities, Work, Play, and All tabs. The settings manager shows you everything you'd find in the typical Ubuntu settings screens, but it's arranged in a new way that makes it easier to find what you're looking for with few clicks. "

While the GUI may look completely different from what Linux usually looks like, an experienced Linux user can access the terminal window by typing Alt+F2 and typing in 'gnome-terminal'.

For those already running Ubuntu and want to see how the GUI looks like, you can try adding the HP repositories and using Synaptics Package Manager to install the glassy-bleu-theme package.

Looking at the screenshots made me go "WOW!" I personally think it looks better than other netbook linux distros out there such as Moblin or Kuki Linux. I definitely will want to give this a shot. I've been using Ubuntu 8.10 for a few months now and my only hope is that Compiz Fusion will work just as well on this HP version of Ubuntu. I really love my rotating cube effect.