Eee PC Xandros Linux and AsusLauncher Review
October 29th, 2007 by antIntroduction
One of the interesting aspects of the ASUS Eee PC is the custom interface installed by default under the Xandros Linux installation. It’s designed to be very organized and to allow users easy access to all of the programs on the Eee without much difficulty. The following is a rundown of the specialized interface.
Overall
As I posted in my initial impressions, the Eee PC both boots and shuts down unbelievably fast. When you turn on the Eee PC for the first time, it makes you create an account with your name and password, then shows you the interface. By default, you do not have to log in each time you turn on the Eee PC. The Eee PC interface has tabs at the top: Internet, Work, Learn, Play, Settings, Favorites, and Help. At the bottom, there is a system tray with a home icon on the way left- the equivalent of “show desktop” on a windows computer. To the right of that is the taskbar, then a system tray where you will find: Network adapter settings, battery life, number lock status, caps lock status, volume, and a clock (that is in 24hour mode, not am/pm.) To the right of these are the “SOS” application, “Eee PC Tips,” and an arrow that makes the whole bottom bar hide itself to the right. This is a nice feature- it allows you to get a little bit more vertical space when using the Eee PC.
Internet Tab
The Internet Tab has 12 options: Web Mail, Web, iGoogle, Messenger, Skype, Network, eBook, Google Docs, World Clock, Wikipedia, Internet Radio, and Wireless Networks.
If you click on Web Mail, it brings you to a new screen where you can choose from: Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, and AOL. All of these open up in Firefox, the default web browser.
Web, of course, brings you to Firefox. It looks and functions just as Firefox does on any Linux or Windows installation- and the screen is wide enough for most web pages to appear normal. I find that it’s actually the height that seems more limited when viewing web pages, but the easy solution is to just hit F11, making Firefox expand to the whole screen. This really makes web browsing more enjoyable.
Messenger brings you to Pidgin, which allows you to use such services as AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, IRC, MSN, Yahoo, and more. Instant messaging is easy to use, and Pidgin sits in your system tray when you are not using it. The windows can be slightly crowding on the small screen while setting up your accounts, but the buddy list looks great.
I haven’t used much of Skype, as I do not have any of the premium features on my account or even any minutes. I can say that it loads fine and fits in the window height properly.
Network and Wireless Network allow you to connect to wired and wireless connections. It’s a great interface that makes it easy to use even for novices. I had no trouble connecting to my network, and I find that it detects far away networks and receives a perfect signal from my router.
eBook takes you to the “My eBooks” folder of File Manager. The file “manual.CHM” comes with the default install, and loads in FBReader.
World Clock is KDE World Clock, and allows you to gain a visual image of not only times of a wide variety of cities across the world but also where the sun currently is up and where the sun isn’t up!
iGoogle, Google Docs, Wikipedia, Internet Radio all are direct links to their respective web pages via Firefox. Internet Radio takes you to “MediaYou.net”
Work Tab
The Work Tab has 9 options: Accessories, Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, PDF Reader, Mail, File Manager, Dictionary, and Notes.
Accessories brings you to a new screen where you can choose between Calculator, PIM, and Screen Capture. Calculator is KCalc. PIM is Personal Information Manager from KDE- I’ve found that I like it a lot. It has a nice interface and allows you to keep track of your important information. The Screen Capture utility is how I took the photos included in this review. It’s a nice interface- allows you to capture a full screen, Window under cursor, or even a region.
Documents, Spreadsheets, and Presentations all lead to Open Office. They all look fantastic- the windows are slightly scaled down to look completely proportional on the Eee PC screen. It’s easy to read and write on all of them- plenty of screen real estate. They all load quite fast as well.
PDF Reader leads to Adobe Reader. In the first impressions, I noted how it was difficult to read PDF documents where pages were next to each other, book style. In fact, I’ve become used to it already, and you can see how it looks in the screenshot above. It loads and scrolls fast, as well.
Mail takes you to a standard install of Mozilla Thunderbird.
File Manager is a great, right from KDE. It reminds me of the days of Windows’ file manager before explorer came along. It’s easy to manage all of your files from it. It’s also the only way to access a Linux console: press ctrl+t.
Dictionary is not just a simple dictionary. It’s the Longman Dictionary, and not only does it give standard defintions but it also translates from English to Chinese as well.
Notes are yellow “sticky notes” that stay on your screen, allowing you to keep track of your information. The program is managed via the system tray.
Learn Tab
The Learn Tab has 5 options: Science, Language, Math, Paint, and Web Learn.
Science brings you to a new screen that allows you to choose between Periodic Table and Planetarium. Planetarium is actually KStars.
Language takes you to three educational games: Typing, Letter Game, and Hangman Game. Typing is actually kind of fun in a “playing games at school” kind of way, but I haven’t had a chance to try the other two yet.
Math takes you to Fraction Tutorial, Tux Math, Geometry, or Function Plotter.
Paint allows you to choose between Paint and Tux Paint.
Web Learn loads “skoool.ie” in Firefox, an Interactive learning website.
It’s clear that ASUS has put a lot of educational software on the Eee PC, as this tab is full of many different programs.
Play Tab
The Play Tab has 7 options: Games, Media Player, Music Manager, Photo Manager, Video Manager, Webcam, and Sound Recorder.
Games leads you to a choice betwen Solitaire, Frozen Bubble, Crack Attack, Penguin Race, Sudoku (nice!), Potato Guy, and L Tris. It’s a nice variety that are useful on the go.
Media Player loads SMPlayer, which I find to be my personal favorite media player in Linux. It resembles Windows Classic Player and allows you to load a variety of media files.
Music Manager is a nice jukebox style program that allows you to create playlists of your song files. It minimizes into the system tray when closed, for a continued experience.
Photo Manager allows you to view the photos on your computer, and opens by default to the folder that stores the photos you take with your webcam. It is a nice interface, similar to the file manager.
Video Manager is essentially File Manager- but when you click on a video it loads it in the Media Player in full screen. Included on the Eee PC is a product demo video with photos of the Eee PC.
Webcam loads UCView, which provides an instant view through the lens of your webcam. You can pause, save still images, record video, or do adjustments to the video feed itself.
Sound Recorder loads up a simple application to record and save audio messages with the built in microphone or though the external microphone input.
Settings Tab
The Settings Tab contains the largest amount of options: 13. They include Anti-Virus, Volume, Instant Shutdown, Printers, System Info, Date & Time, Personalization, Add/Remove Software, Touchpad, Disk Utility, Diagnostic Tools, Desktop Mode, and Voice Command.
Anti-Virus lives up to it’s name by being a complete Anti-Virus scanning program. You can of course scan, update definitions, and view Quarantined files as well.
Volume brings up simple volume adjustments for the main system volume, microphone, and allows you to change the left and right balance.
Instant Shutdown brings up the menu that you can also see by pressing the power button or clicking the red icon on the right of the system tray. It allows you to choose between the Task Manager, Standby, Restart, or Shut Down.
Printers shows you currently installed printers and gives you the ability to add a printer. Unfortunately, my printer is not compatible with Linux, so I can’t go into huge detail here.
System Info tells you the system BIOS version, BIOS date, Software version, Build Info (date manufactured), CPU type, memory size, motherboard version, and battery status.
Date & Time allows you to set the date, time, and time zone. Unfortunately, I still have not found a way to set the time on the system to AM/PM instead of 24hour. Judging by the fact it is 24hour on all of the software and the BIOS, this may be impossible to change.
Personalization allows you to set your full name, passwords, desktop theme, keyboard layout, and whether or not to log you in automatically when turning on the Eee PC and whether or not to Turn off the display after 5 minutes of inactivity.
Add/Remove Software does not have many options yet- just updates for Skype, Dictionary, and a BIOS update (which we have determined to add great features but to also make the system possibly unstable, see previous post). It’s a nice piece of software though for users to easily update system software.
Touchpad lets you choose the specifics of the touch pad. I’m still working on getting mine to be the style I am used to- but you can adjust the sensitivity, tapping time, vertical scrolling, horizontal scrolling, circular scrolling, and edge options.
Disk Utility shows the hard disk space used by the system, the user, and what is still available. It also has an option for an “Extra Drive” which I do not really know much about yet.Diagnostic Tools allows you to do two things: view system information and complete several system tests. You can view your BIOS information, CPU information, RAM size, VGA information, Harddisk information, Ethernet Adapter information, and Audio device. The system test tools allow you to diagnose your modem, audio, network, webcam, panel, usb, and storage. You can also choose to test all.
Desktop Mode is for when you hook the Eee PC up to an external monitor- it has choices for viewing only the external, both screens at the same time, etc. It also allows you to choose resolutions for the external monitor.
Voice Command is another application I have not had the opportunity to play with in great detail yet. It loads in your system tray, and apparently allows you to dictate commands to your Eee PC. Nifty!
Favorites Tab
The Favorites Tab comes with two options: Asus.com and Customize. While Asus.com simply takes you to their website, Customize allows you to choose any of the programs installed on the Eee PC and put them on this one screen. For example, if you use Web and File Manager a lot, you can put them both under the Favorites category. I was hoping they would allow website shortcuts or other user-installed programs as well, but it doesn’t look like this is possible. It may be by editing files via the Linux console.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, Xandros and ASUS have created an excellent interface that allows easy use of the Eee PC. I find that it’s not too simplified as some were afraid it might be. They have included plenty of applications that allow you to do most of the things you need to do, most of which come from KDE. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to install other applications- there are not many choices in Add/Remove programs. This, however, may change with time.
One last note- the Xandros Linux install includes a Task Manager program, similiar to that of windows. It shows active processes and allows you to kill them if necessary. I haven’t had to use it at all yet- the system is very stable.
I’m hoping to now give Windows XP and Ubuntu a shot, but I think over time the Xandros Linux install may turn out to be the best overall for daily use on the Eee PC!
You can view the full gallery of screenshots here.
October 29th, 2007 at 2:15 am
What is the resolution on the 7″ screen?
October 29th, 2007 at 2:19 am
Trexdacy:
Resolution is 800×480
October 29th, 2007 at 3:43 am
I’d like to ask a question about the interface. Does the Eee PC only have easy mode?
October 29th, 2007 at 4:49 am
Great article and screenshots. Thanks! The file manager looks more like the Xandros File Manager than Konqueror.
October 29th, 2007 at 4:53 am
Guys, I seriously don’t think that November 1st is going to be the day. There has been no planning, no word, no talks and nobody at Best Buy knows anything about it, even management (I asked). The Newegg site has announced nothing. The iPhone on the other hand you had a date - June 29th that was set in stone ahead of time.
I think we could be waiting another couple weeks at least. So far all of my predictions have come true and I think that November 16th is the real day we should be looking at. Trust me. I’d love to be wrong about this, but sofar I haven’t been.
October 29th, 2007 at 5:49 am
Great!!! ThanX for the share all this informations! ThanX a lot!
October 29th, 2007 at 9:26 am
Is there an email client or do you have to go through the web?
October 29th, 2007 at 9:50 am
The music manager is the Amarok
October 29th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Is there any way to shrink down the system tray? I don’t think I care for that many icons in the taskbar
October 29th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Oh, and can it suspend/resume on lid close/open? (and is the suspend reliable?)
October 29th, 2007 at 11:28 am
To ConstyXIV:on the bottom right side their a button to hide the whole bottom bar in a click, and yes it suspends and resumes on lid open and close, reliable so far (had it for 3 days)
October 29th, 2007 at 11:36 am
I’m not a super duper linux geek (sorry, being a windows admin pays the bills nicely) but I have played with debian enough to know that apt-get rocks for installing applications. If I remember my reading of this site correctly, Xandros is debian based, so does it include apt-get or YUM or something to facilitate easy application installation?
Also, in dealing with the system so far, what is the terminal experience like? does it suppport sudo or su mode? is the root account the same as the first account you set up on the system or do they have it locked down to a mystery account?
Excellent review and excellent photos!
October 29th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
To add to TheBronze’s questions: Can you name the computer?
And yes, definitely thanks for all the excellent blogging =)
October 29th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
I’d love to seem some screen shots of Firefox in F11 full screen mode. Thanks.
October 29th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
TheBronze: yes, Xandros does use apt-get, however it should only come with the Xandros repositories configured. You could always edit the sources file and include debian repositories if you want (or install another linux distro on the EEE which is what I will probably do
)
October 29th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Can you delete unwanted programs in Add or remove programs to free up more space? It seems as though the options are very limited.
October 29th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Some general Comments Ant didn’t talk about:
1. Terminal: the Eee PC comes with a terminal. It’s a bit of a hidden feature. To activate, use keystroke ctrl-alt-t.
2. Package Management. Yes.. for the eeeasy mode… you’re extremely limited. But, using the terminal and apt… you can install anything etch has with a few exceptions (notably anything KDE related). This is because the KDE codebase is custom built in-house. Do NOT bother with anything KDE based; it’s more trouble than it’s worth (imho). Pretty much anything that an xfce etch user would install is “intelligent” fair game.
Once I get more time (I’m a full time student right now), I’ll build some packages that work well with the EEE just like I did during the summer at Xandros. My first project will be Miro.
For more tips about an etch desktop, you’ll find http://thegoldenear.org/toolbox/unices/desktop-system-setup-debian-etch.html extremely useful. I’ll definitely be a big time contributor for the eeepc wiki come January :).
Nate
October 29th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Sorry.. I should mention. When I say… using terminal and apt, there’s a few steps I’m missing… notably, adding etch sources to sources.list, apt get update, etc, etc….
I can’t emphasize enough. Anything not KDE-linked that’s in etch works really well.
Ie: Opera Etch, beep-music-player from etch, etc, etc.
Also… I dare say it’s not too too difficult to backport stuff that’s not officially in etch. I’ll add something to the wiki when I have time and will defiantly help with any unofficial repo you guys may want to start up come January. I suppose this is an odd introduction but I will post a proper one to the forums… eventually. Back to the books :).
October 29th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
Thanks, Ant.
October 31st, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Question about upgrading it: My “My Documents” folder alone is at 18GB right now, and I don’t see the 4GB being enough for me, like, ever. Is the 4GB SSD it comes with compatible with the newer SSDs coming out? Or, possibly backward-compatible with old HDs?
I just found out about this system today, and it seems awesome for me (fixing to start college in the spring) but I need more storage.
October 31st, 2007 at 8:55 pm
Обзор ОС Xandros Linux и AsusLauncher…
Блог EeeUser.com продолжает радовать познавательными обзорами. Ðа Ñтот раз в поле Ð·Ñ€ÐµÐ½Ð¸Ñ Ð¿Ð¾Ð¿Ð°Ð»Ð° Ð¾Ð¿ÐµÑ€Ð°Ñ†Ð¸Ð¾Ð½Ð½Ð°Ñ ÑиÑтема Xandros, ÐºÐ¾Ñ‚Ð¾Ñ€Ð°Ñ Ð¿Ð¾ умолчани…
October 31st, 2007 at 10:00 pm
How about an EVDO USB card — anyone got a chance to connect?
November 1st, 2007 at 11:48 am
[...] Καλό review [...]
November 1st, 2007 at 6:45 pm
[...] has also been posting an in depth look at the Xandros Linux install on the [...]
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:41 am
Hello,
what is the AC power consumption of the Eee?
I assume it comes with something like a brick-type AC adapter or a wall power supply? Does that thing get hot when continously connected?
I’m looking for something like an always-on PC which would enable the entire family to look up things REALLY quickly on the web whenever needed. It should also be able to act as a print server (for our traditional PCs - we have fopur of them) through the WLAN, with a USB printer connected.
My foremost requirements for this device are:
a) inexpensive
b) not power-hungry.
On the really-quick front: How long takes the Eee to resume from standby? (Although I’d also consider just leaving it always-on, as mentioned).
Regards, Thilo
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:47 pm
[...] die Oberfläche und die installierten Programme gibt es bei eeeuser.com auch einen übersichtlichen und längeren Artikel. Den lege ich allen Neugierigen sehr ans [...]
November 3rd, 2007 at 9:30 pm
What is the screen size in millimetres? and the overall sizes of the mini laptop (in mm or cm)?
November 23rd, 2007 at 7:44 pm
I am hoping someone can help me - it seems I’ve deleted the voice command and have no idea how to get it back. Can anyone help me with this?
December 4th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
I have two main processes I want to accomplish with this machine, and I don’t know how to do them. I’m completely unfamiliar with Linux; I’ve always worked on a PC, so far. Please advise me.
1. Can I use more than 1 application at a same time? For example, can I have a website open and a document open at the same time? Could I also have email open at the same time? I often get information from a website that I type into documents and then email. I’m used to having three windows open, and flowing the work from one window to the other. How would the process work on this machine?
Example 2. I trade financial securities. Are website charts and graphs clear and easy to see? Do broker sites work with Linux for the sake of entering orders?
Thank you for your help.
December 11th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Can the eee play abc.com &/or other video streams?
How about slingbox?
Any problem with using secure (https://) sites such as marriott.com?
Thanks for the info.
December 31st, 2007 at 7:07 am
I got a white 4G version last Friday. Initial impressions are that it is really good. It does give you eye strain after prolonged use but there is a way to alter the brightness so that can help.
I have not found a way to use the web cam with instant messenger. For example yahoo has a web based instant messenger on windows but when you use the delivered pidgen programme, you dont get any option for using the webcam. Does anyone know how you can use the webcam to have a conference with someone else?
Voice command is really really good, you enable it and then say fairly loudly to the eee “Computer Web” and the browser is switched on. Only down side is that you cannot have the voice enabled program on all the time so when you reboot, you have to re-enable it again.
January 5th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
could anyone tell me, if they have the eee pc, if they can install a program called blueJ??
heres a link to download it… if anyone has a few 5mins to check it for me
http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Text-Editing-Processing/IDEs/BlueJ-7648.shtml
January 7th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I get an error saying I do not have enough permissions for the file when I plug in anything to the USB. Any sugestions as to how to fix this? Otherwise I do really like the EEE Pc for it’s speed and ease of use. Of course unless I can get the files off I can’t work with other systems.
January 27th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
>> Vic HH
I had the same problem at first.
When I bought my eee PC the store was pretty much out, only the display model was left. But, I bought it anyways. When I got home and started using it, I noticed the system was running.. well.. funny. It had exactly the same problem you describe, and a few others. A quick system restore (F9 during boot) fixed the issue.
But before you try that, you should try just changing the premissions of the USB device through the console (CTRL + ALT + T) using the chmod command (chmod 777 /path/to/your/device; or, chmod a+w /path/to/your/device)
January 29th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Mini sd….
Micro mini skirts. Mini cameras. Mini cooper. Mini golf. Mini dachshund. Mini clip. Mini skirts legs. Mini lathes….
February 7th, 2008 at 12:13 am
hi i posted this in another forum was wonderin if yo could help me out..>_page server
cs.yahoo.co.jp —>japan pager servermy
pager port is 5050
filetransfer.msg.yahoo.com —>that’s for file transfer server
and chat room locale is —>us
help me please
thanks!
second, how do i install programs here. i’m sorta really a noob on this so if you could take me to the step by step basics..if you could help me out i’d forever be in debt@_@
lso i found some bugs in my eee pc. when i use skype, my camera keeps blinking i don’t know why.. like every few seconds it turns off then on again.
February 19th, 2008 at 4:03 am
help..howdo u change a chinese os to englishos.. its currently runningon chinese linux os..t.T
March 8th, 2008 at 5:10 am
I can’t wait to get the eee pc! but i was wondering if you can play music from your ipod on the eee. does the eee connect with a transcend SDHC card? well, i f you find out, let me know.
other than those questions, i am way excited! i can’t believe i can finally get a small cute laptop that actually works well!
I CAN’T WAIT!!!
March 19th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Finally got my eee pc yesterday, i couldnt find anywhere that had a 4gb version in stock but i was working in London yesterday and found a cheap refurbed one on TC road.
It’s had the motherboard replaced by asus under warranty and it seems fine.
So far i’m impressed, it’s a shame you cant switch to an advanced view of the desktop so it doesnt look like a posh pda
Peripheral support is very good there was no problem getting my 3g usb dongle to work.
As a unix sysadmin this could turn out to be a very handy tool for work due to the lan and usb interfaces coupled with the fact that there are some great network tools out there for linux.
Will have to see how it works with a usb to 9 pin dongle so i can use it as a console.
I think i will be definately keeping my eyes open for the higher spec models with more internal storage and slightly bigger screen when they are eventually widely available.
But in the meantime this model will do me nicely
April 24th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
[...] the machine. The first is typically preferred by the majority of users, who see the EEEPC’s Xandros O.S. with AsusLauncher graphical interface (probably inherited from PDAs, see image on the left) and preinstalled software as sufficient for [...]
April 25th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Hi guys. I want to get one but just want to know whats left of the 4gig with the OS loaded?
Ryan
April 27th, 2008 at 11:41 am
After I ran USB- Connect for charging my new SONY Walkman B130F. This was happened on the 2 consecutive charging that I could not access to my Kingston 512MB data at all. Could someone tell me why? Anyhow I can open my earlier Kingston data by other PC, Window Vista.
Thank you in advance,
waraanan@yahoo.com
27042008;23.40p.m.
May 11th, 2008 at 9:51 am
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