Intel's Moblin 2 scurries into the wild

'Fastbooting' netbook Linux

By Austin Modine • Get more from this author

Posted in Developer, 30th January 2009 05:53 GMT

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The first alpha of Intel's Linux-based Moblin 2 platform has been released for testing.

The Moblin Project pushed out the initial version Monday, hoping to lure a community of developers to its open-source stack for netbooks and other low-power devices running on Intel's Atom processors.

Alpha 1 includes the Linux 2.6.29-rc2 kernel and ready for initial testing of Moblin 2's developer tools, boot processes, package interactions and new internet connection manager.

It's still in early stages of development, with Moblin 2's final UI not baked into the code yet. Alpha 1 instead uses the XFCE desktop environment as a placeholder – although the Moblin crew says the final UI won't be based on XFCE.

The Moblinites have tested Alpha 1 on the Acer Aspire One, Asus eeePC 902, and Dell Mini 9 platforms. WiFi isn't currently supported on the Asus eeePC 901, and platforms with GMA-500 Graphics chipset aren't supported at all.

One whiz-bang element to Alpha 1 is the new "Fastboot" feature, which supposedly makes startup take only about five seconds.

More details are available on the Moblin documentation page and the official release announcement. ®

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