Eeebuntu
If you are dissatisfied with either the Windows XP or Xandros Linux installation on your Asus Eee PC, you’ll be pleased to learn that there’s an edition of Ubuntu just for you, called Eeebuntu. Although not officially supported (or recognized) by Canonical, I have found that it runs better than regular Ubuntu “out of the box” on an Eee PC, with no tweaking required (see Figure 15-11). It comes in three flavors:
- Standard (about 860 MB)
This edition includes a full suite of Internet applications, including Firefox for browsing, Pidgin for IM chat, Thunderbird for mail, OpenOffice.org for office documents, and a selection of multimedia applications, including VLC for watching movies and Banshee for listening to music.
- NBR (about 860 MB)
This is the Netbook Remix version of Eeebuntu, which is similar to the Standard version except that it uses the Netbook Launcher, specially customized for the small screen of Eee PCs. Also, instead of the usual desktop, the main launcher provides a tabbed environment with easy to access icons for all your applications and documents. It also comes with a complete set of applications.
- Base (about 560 MB)
This is the smallest and most stripped down of the versions. Basically it consists of Firefox and some configuration applications, and not much else. But this makes it ultra sleek and fast for people who mainly use their Eee PC for web browsing. You can, of course, install any additional Ubuntu programs you need via Synaptic.
Figure 15-11. Eeebuntu ...