maniacmusician
September 19th, 2007, 06:02 PM
I recently read an article on Ars Technica that mentioned off-hand how the UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) form factor is somewhat neglected. This is, the article reasons, because Microsoft hasn't really made huge efforts to take advantage of it, and so Mac or Linux should step up and take the opportunity.
This really struck a chord with me, so now I'm wondering, are there any current Linux projects that aim to capitalize on the small form factor and ultra-scalable CPU's of the UMPC? If not, that's a shame, because I think there's really a lot to be gained by it.
Extremely small computers don't work well with standard interfaces, which is why Microsoft hasn't really been able to innovate in that area yet. Out of the current contenders for the Desktop right now, I think that the open source community has the most versatile and flexible view towards UI design and implementation.
We have various toolkits and window managers that seem to coexist fairly successfully, and it's a lot easier for us to come up with new design elements because we're not tied down to a system like Aero or Quartz.
I think it would be a great project to initiate if it doesn't exist already. Do I have the resources and time to put it together? Not at all, but I hope that someone else does. This isn't really a project to be taken lightly; I think if it's not going to be done right, then there's no point in trying. By "right", I mean gathering people who have experience in HIG and UI Design, and competent artists, as well as coders and all the normal stuff.
I don't know. Just what I was thinking at the moment. [shrug]
This really struck a chord with me, so now I'm wondering, are there any current Linux projects that aim to capitalize on the small form factor and ultra-scalable CPU's of the UMPC? If not, that's a shame, because I think there's really a lot to be gained by it.
Extremely small computers don't work well with standard interfaces, which is why Microsoft hasn't really been able to innovate in that area yet. Out of the current contenders for the Desktop right now, I think that the open source community has the most versatile and flexible view towards UI design and implementation.
We have various toolkits and window managers that seem to coexist fairly successfully, and it's a lot easier for us to come up with new design elements because we're not tied down to a system like Aero or Quartz.
I think it would be a great project to initiate if it doesn't exist already. Do I have the resources and time to put it together? Not at all, but I hope that someone else does. This isn't really a project to be taken lightly; I think if it's not going to be done right, then there's no point in trying. By "right", I mean gathering people who have experience in HIG and UI Design, and competent artists, as well as coders and all the normal stuff.
I don't know. Just what I was thinking at the moment. [shrug]