Linux was initially one of the main ingredients of the “netbook” successful recipe, consistently with its smart and low-cost concept.

In 2008, about 24% of netbooks were shipped with a Linux operating system. That percentage is expected to plunge to a poor 4% this year, according to the market research company IDC. One could imagine that a revolutionary new OS has entered the market and caused such a change! Completely wrong: the netbook market is currently led by the 8-years-old Windows XP.

Why?

Win XP is neither more complete nor faster than Linux, especially on these low-power devices.

The point is that users look for compatibility with the constantly growing number of electronic devices they own: mp3 players, portable hard drives, smartphones… and of course with a series of well-known software products they’re already used to…

I’m a loyal user of Linux Ubuntu, which I installed on a couple of computers including my Dell Mini (some tips about it here). But I’ve never felt indifferent to the issues described above: I wish I could have on my netbook at least iTunes, Slingbox Player and a full compatibility with every external memory. Anyway, I didn’t consider Win XP as an option.

Then I bumped into this article from Uneasy Silence, describing a simple method to install Apple OS X “Leopard” on the little guy. Of course I spent a few hours surfing the web about this, so I found out that different methods have been built and are very well explained by the smart guys at the Dell Mini forum. This post from Gizmodo has been an interesting reading too.

Well… I couldn’t resist from tryin’ it out. And it worked!

I’ve been testing this solution for a few days now. Needless to say, having some of the Apple incomparable experience on my netbook has been amazing. But on a deeper analysis I believe it’s just not worth it.

Let’s highlight three main reasons.

1) A netbook is primarily meant to surf the web. While Ubuntu’s Firefox lets me scroll every page just smoothly, by sliding the touchpad edge with my right finger, I couldn’t replicate the same behavior on Mac OS… nor, least of all, have the famous two-finger Mac experience: that’s not supported by Dell’s hardware.

2) Yes, I could successfully install Slingbox Player and iTunes on the hackintoshed Dell Mini. But the latter couldn’t manage my Win-formatted iPod Nano.

3) Ethernet was not recognized on Leopard, which wasn’t so bad at first, because the wi-fi connection worked perfectly instead. Then I went out for a week-end and I realized that this somehow prevented my HSPA dongle from working.

Therefore, I peacefully switched back to the latest Ubuntu Netbook Remix version.

Now I know that I would definitely buy a possible Apple Netbook. But I also learned why in Cupertino they’re so obsessed with selling the Mac OS coupled with their own hardware only: full control of the user experience, resulting in a cutting-edge product line.

The preceding post has summarized the essential steps I followed to pimp my Dell Mini, by replacing the original operating system (customized by Canonical for Dell) with a standard full-featured Ubuntu Linux OS in its Netbook Remix version.

What follows is instead a series of subsequent improvements I gradually brought in. Although they’re not a must-have, they helped me obtain the best from my netbook.

1) Following an advice from the Ubuntu Mini blog, I installed Medibuntu: a repository of packages which allows quite important multimedia operations, from mpeg encoding to Skype calls. I also installed the unfailing VLC Media Player. Of course you know that getting a new program in Ubuntu is as easy as going to Programs -> Add/Remove, looking for it and clicking Install… right?

2) Since Netbook Remix hides the topbar of maximized windows, I found it very useful to set up a few keyboard shortcuts. Ubuntu makes it really easy, through a tool you can find in System -> Preferences. My convenient choices have been: Alt-Z to maximize the selected window, Alt-X to unmaximize and Alt-C to close.

3) A few settings, suggested by an Ubuntu Mini article again, have allowed me to customize Firefox. Their purpose is to keep in consideration the limited screen size and CPU speed of a netbook. That’s why I preferred not to install most of the add-ons suggested in the same article.

4) One more technical touch up: since the Dell Mini comes with a SSD memory, I wanted to lenghten its life by disabling the Tracker from loading at start-up (just uncheck it from the list you find in System -> Preferences -> Sessions) and stopping content indexing on my netbook (step-by-step guide here).

5) Last but not least, something more recreational. These guys at System 76 offer free Ubuntu stickers if you send them a self addressed stamped envelope! Their goal is just to let people show their pride for being powered by Ubuntu. Give it a try!

The most exciting present I received last Christmas is undoubtedly a Dell Mini 9.

A few months later, though it’s been surpassed by more performant and same-priced netbooks, my small Dell is still an outstanding device: some supposed limits, like the 8Gb only built-in memory, turn into valuable features when you notice how silent this computer is.

To be honest, I somehow influenced the way this present has been picked out, because it brings two significant benefits respect to some similar products: embedded Bluetooth 2.0, and Linux Ubuntu operating system. I knew Dell had involved Canonical for the second point, so I expected my Dell Mini to come with the just-released Ubuntu Netbook Remix. Instead, when I switched it on for the first time, I saw something similar to this screenshot.

Yes, pretty nice. But strongly managed by Dell, starting from the strictly selected updates; and based on Ubuntu 8.04, which misses the very good Connection Manager released within the 8.10 Intrepid Ibex. I resisted for one week, because worried about warranty issues, then I decided to pimp my Dell Mini.

The open-source community provided good support as usual, but I especially leveraged the advices from a very good blog named Ubuntu Mini. Here’s the few steps I followed.

1) First, I downloaded the latest Ubuntu release from the official site, and I created a live USB key. It was Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex in my case, but at the moment I’m writing Ubuntu 9.04 is about to be released.

2) Installation on the Dell Mini was quite easy, thanks to an excellent wizard. The only tricky part is perhaps the partition management, whose settings should depend on the way you’re going to use your netbook. You can find here a very detailed step-by-step guide, which includes an important advice to fix a common sound problem with the Dell Mini.

3) Ubuntu Linux is an amazing operating system, but I think the Netbook Remix makes it even more enjoyable, particularly on a 9 inches screen. Installing the Netbook Remix over Ubuntu 9.04 promises to be as easy as typing sudo apt-get install ubuntu-netbook-remix, but for its 8.10 version I needed a couple of additional expedients from this guide.

Here’s how my Dell Mini desktop looked at the end of this process, which I could perform in about one hour.

These were the must-have steps to get a Netbook-Remix-powered Dell Mini. In my experience, it’s really worth it. One example? The already mentioned built-in Connection Manager not only manages wireline and wi-fi connections seamlessly, but also allowed me to plug-&-play multiple devices: HSDPA dongles from different manufacturers, shared connection from a Windows Mobile smartphone…

The next part of this article (post 2 of 2) will include a few optional settings and tools for further improving your installation and subsequent experience.