Who needs instant on? Moblin boots in about 15 seconds

I've read about moblin before, but when it resurfaced in my newsreader this morning I decided it was time to take a look at the project a bit more closely. The moblin OS is built on Linux and optimized for Intel-based notebooks, netbooks, and MIDs. It is currently in alpha testing, but already looks very promising.

Most of the other Linux distributions I've tested on my MSI Wind were "customized" for netbooks, but they ultimately ended up feeling like a standard desktop distribution with an interface tweaked for small displays.

One thing immediately sets moblin apart from the others.

After installing it to the hard drive and rebooting my system, it took a mere 16 seconds to get from the Grub menu to the XFCE desktop. Holy boot times, Batman! That's impressive.

I'm aware that users have gotten times like this before with distros like Arch, but Moblin will be easier to deal with for most netbook users.

The pre-installed applications are kept to a minimum - Firefox is included and you'll be able to enjoy your music and videos with Movie Player. There are also lightweight GTD apps for managing contacts, tasks, and a calendar. You can, of course, add whatever other packages you like through yum or add/remove software.

If you want to take moblin for a test drive you can download an iso file, or a virtual machine for VMware or KVM. Keep in mind this is an alpha release. Moblin's finished form may look nothing like this, but it's an intriguing project even at this stage of the game.

Tags: linux, mid, moblin, netbook, opensource, osupdates