Ubuntu 11.04

Here's a brief screencast that I did going through some of the basic features of the newest Ubuntu release (Natty Narwal).

Overall, I feel that this is the most accessible linux distribution for the Mac and Windows set. It comes bundled with a great productivity suite that is compatible with the MS Office suite, offering enough functionality for all but the most discerning Office power user. Evolution e-mail is the equivalent to MS Outlook, and other than the somewhat spartan look, it offers up a majority of Outlooks features. I like my Outlook add-ins (like Evernote), but probably not a big deal for most users if your looking for a highly functional mail client. Here's a link to a bit more info regarding LibreOffice.

Ubuntu also integrates socially with an excellent chat client (Empathy) as well as a social broadcasting client for Twitter. In particular, I like the notification system employed by Ubuntu. I find it to be a more elegant solution than many of the Windows clients.

The aspect of this latest release that seems to be the most divisive is the Unity user interface. Mac and Windows users will feel right at home using this, although a quick search through any of the forums will show that it is either loved or hated.

Overall, if you are looking to give something new a try, or you are looking to extend your hardware's lifecycle a bit, give Ubuntu a shot. It's easy to install, fairly lightweight, boots quickly, and offers a robust set of features. The only (minor) downside is that while there are access to many great programs (free and paid), if you really need to run a Windows program, there is some extra effort required. When my windows 7 laptop draws near the end of it's lifecycle, I plan on installing Ubuntu and giving it to my Mother, who has been using an Ubuntu netbook that I built for her for a few years.

• Overall: B+
• Ease of Use: A
• Features: B

Angry Birds Chrome

Is it so wrong to love Angry Birds on a 23in touchscreen? Angry Birds Chrome

Google Music Beta

It's been a few days since I got my invite, and I've had enough of a chance to make a general first impression of Google's Music Beta Service.

After receiving the invite while I was away on business, I promptly followed the instructions and downloaded the Music manager while at the hotel. After installation, it told me that I had > 1000 songs and began uploading them to the cloud. I left my laptop running overnight and voila, the upload was finished before I left for work in the morning. So far, great stuff. The UI is simple and easy to navigate (see pics below). I also downloaded the app for the phone and was promptly able to start streaming a playlist that I had created with no issues whatsoever. The UI on the phone app could be a bit more intuitive, but that's a matter of taste and space constraints. I'd also like to see the instant mix feature improved a bit. If you take a look at the picture below, you can kind of see the "odd" mix it created. Kudos for the feature. Hopefully it will improve as we move out of beta. Also, as an IE9 user, if they could make it more usable as a pinned page, it would be nice. Speaking of pinning, the ability to pin songs and make them available offline is definitely a welcome feature.

Upon returning home, I repeated the same process on my home PC. Here's where the service starts to earn it's "beta" tag. I repeated the same steps that I had taken for the laptop, and my library was uploaded in a few hours. The first thing that I noticed was that if there were duplicate songs on both machines, they were uploaded twice. In some cases, they loaded under the same album, but in some instances, a new album was created. This typically happens when there is a mismatch in the metadata, and can be easily corrected by editing the metadata. This isn't really the greatest user experience, but this is part of the problem when you use multiple methods to get content on to your machines as opposed to a single method like iTunes. I had ripped older CD's using Windows Media Player, newer content was purchased and managed through Rhapsody. Also, what I noticed, was that my older content had been ripped at such a low bit rate, that it was almost un-listenable. Most of this content was purchased when my media player was a 512MB Creative USB media Player stick. What a long way we've come!

When I re-ripped all of my older content at 320kb/s (Google plays at a max bit rate of 320 kb/s), the Music Manager re-imported all of these songs. After severl hours of "cleaning up" my content on the machines, in Rhapsody, and in Music Beta, I've been trouble free ever since. Again,I don't truly think this is a Google issue. This would have been a much smoother experience is I had been a better organized keeper of my content. I probably should have done this clean-up when I purchased my desktop.

That being said, they could probably provide tools to help improve the experience, since this is supposed to create a single repository for your content. Maybe when we come out of Beta? The biggest issue I see is that they have no way to purchase new content. That is a MAJOR roadblock on the path to becoming a mainstream service. Only time will tell if they can move past that hurdle. Maybe Google Music "Powered by Rhapsody"? I can dream can't I?

Overall, I like the service, but it's inability to purhase new content from within the service is really holding it back. I'll be following as it evolves.

• Set-up: B
• Interface: B+
• Overall: C

Ubuntu 11.04

Finally got Ubuntu running on my desktop, and I have to say, it runs great. It also supports touch :)

I'll get a screencast up as soon as possible.