Perfect mobile and web development system!

Back from the holidays! In light of the need for me to be in the field during the upcoming weeks, I took the extra time to update my notebook so that I can use it for mobile development and to continue writing about the exciting things that are happening on the mobile space. I have been using my notebook as a dual boot system (Redhat Fedora and Windows 2000) and I thought it’s about time to update the Unix/Windows environment that I was using with new stuff.

My notebook actually came with Windows XP but I had gotten used to my old system that used Windows 2000 so I decided to remove Windows XP altogether and use Windows 2000. It looks like I would really have to install Windows XP now since I need to run MS Internet Explorer 7 to fix this site’s layout with IE7.

Now comes the next question. What do I use for the Unix/Linux environment. I actually got three choices in mind. Continue using Redhat’s Fedora by installing the new Fedora 8 distribution. Try the Ubuntu Linux distribution — probably one of the most talked about Linux distribution right now.

Or try something new — Open Solaris 10. I just received my Open Solaris 10 for x86 systems from Sun and I was quite interested in being able to use it since I have experience in using Solaris on servers. I was also curious about the improvements Sun have made on the Open Solaris usability on the desktop.

After installing Windows XP, I decided to give Open Solaris a try. I inserted the Open Solaris DVD on my notebook and started the installation. But after some initial steps, Open Solaris was not able to continue with its installation process and gave me a message about not being able to proceed due to having more than one partition of Solaris on my hard drive. I think it has something to do with the existence of Linux partitions on the hard drive but I was not about to spend the extra time trying to fix it so goodbye Open Solaris — maybe next year.

I have already downloaded a copy of the new Fedora 8 Linux DVD so I decided to try it next. The installation of Fedora 8 went smoothly without a glitch. The new artwork of the Fedora 8 was simply marvelous. Now it comes down to connecting my external LCD monitor to my notebook. After making the physical connections and trying to create a dual-head configuration under X, I just finally decided to give Ubuntu a try.

I got a copy of Ubuntu 7.10 and boot the CD to start installing. Now this is what I call “installing with style”! My hats off to the Ubuntu guys for creating a live Ubuntu disc and using the environment for the installation. Not only was I able to try and see first what Ubuntu is but I also don’t need to reboot to start installing it on my notebook. I clicked on the install icon and fired away.

I believe that desktop Operating Systems should be first and foremost about the user experience — making it easier to do tasks on a computer. You’ll see what I mean even on small things like setting your locale during installation. These guys have taken the extra effort to create a better user experience in setting your timezone using a world map — complete with zooming!

After installing Ubuntu, It didn’t take long to see the difference from the other distributions. Wifi, bluetooth, lan, video — everything was working perfectly. Next thing I did was to install Eclipse and noticed that it executes faster on Ubuntu compared to my Windows XP.

Another thing you’ll love about Linux is wine (running windows programs under linux). I downloaded a copy of IE4linux and installed it. Now I have a complete test suite of web browsers — IE 5, IE 5.5, IE 6 and IE 7 on Windows XP

I was about to install Netbeans for mobile development stuff but seeing that NetBeans 6 is soon to be released, I decided to do it later.

This is the clincher! I started to configure the my notebook for dual-head operation and wow! No sweat at all. I had my notebook LCD and external LCD monitor working in an extended desktop in no time at all.

Great job Ubuntu! Very good job guys — you get my vote. I’m using Ubuntu on my notebook from now on.

If you want to try Ubuntu go to their web site at www.ubuntu.com. You can read more about Eclipse from www.eclipse.org, NetBeans from www.netbeans.org and Wine from www.winehq.com. Open Solaris is at www.opensolaris.org and Fedora from fedoraproject.org.