Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

"Jolicloud's newest operating system release can be summed up in one word: “accessible”. To sum it up in fourteen words: “accessible, and yes it's Linux underneath, but please don't run away screaming quite yet.” Anyone trying this relative newcomer might call it accessible because it has an extremely easy-to-use interface. Or, it could be called accessible in the sense that it's free and will run on minimal hardware. Or, it may be accessible because it integrates concepts familiar to social networking users directly into the main interface."

If you have some old computer hardware and are comfortable with an app centric interface like you'd find on most modern smartphones, this might be something for you to take a look at. Anyone given this a go?

"At Jolicloud we believe a movement has started. A movement that will change the computer industry forever: a world where computers are inexpensive, where operating systems are free and software is online. This is the world we dreamed of when we first discovered computers and the Internet. And this is why we wanted to build an operating system (OS) around a platform that gives everyone the opportunity to be part of this movement and access a whole new range of possibilities. Jolicloud is an Internet operating system[1]. It combines the two driving forces of the modern computing industry: the open source and the open web. Jolicloud transforms your netbook into a sophisticated web device that taps into the cloud to expand your computing possibilities. The web already hosts a significant part of our lives: mails, photos, videos, and friends are already somewhere online. Jolicloud was built to make the computer and web part of the same experience."

Looks like a pretty simple OS leveraging the most common on-line applications. Toss in a good off-line media solution and this could be fairly compelling. It is only in alpha now, so you'll either need to wait a while or request a developer version to get a better look.