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Lycoris Announces Desktop/LX Tablet Edition
penguinrenegade writes "Lycoris has announced the release of a new Tablet Edition of their popular Desktop/LX Operating System. There are several screenshots in the tour, and it looks like a really polished system, including some of the things that you'd really need in a Tablet, like the virtual keyboard, actually working. It appears according to one page that there are already Tablets in production by some manufacturer, too. So much for Bill Gates and his vision of only Microsoft on a Tablet, eh?"
There are many tablet PCs without real keyboards built in.
Hard to tell but it sounds like they are supporting only a resistive technology for the touch screen. RF (such as in Wacom tablets) is much better for an interface. You get hover, pressure sensitivity and MUCH higher resolution.
Plus a side switch and eraser.
There was an article a while back about linux on an Acer Tablet PC so I know it can be done.
I've been working with the Compaq TC1000 TabletPC for a while. We got in several for the office and I got one for me to look at. At first it just seems to be a small notebook...but once you use it for its intended purpose you'll see it has advantages. The longer battery life is nice. The Compaq screen can detach from the keyboard to make it smaller and lighter. I normally carry it like a legal pad. The handwriting recognition is EXCELLENT and I can't write worth a damn. It's much better than any PDA I've used, and this is without even using any special type of writing. It's also comfy to sit back on the couch and read your favorite sites with a small device.
Give me a good 16 hours of battery life and I'll be real happy. The only real downside I've found is the screen. Since it is a touch screen it is not as clear as a normal LCD monitor. But, at least on the Compaq, it never gets fingerprints on it like most PDAs.
No, no, no. Lycoris is *not* Lindows.com. Lycoris is a completely different company and you can download their distro for free. They have a very dedicated and loyal user community at lycoris.org
Their distro is based on old Caldera Openlinux code (hah! - will Sco sue them next?!?)
Their goal, as near as I can tell, is to make a Linux distro your grandmother can use. And they do give back to the community.
Lindows is a "pay-as-you-go" distro, based on Xandros (used-to-be Corel Linux), based on Debian. You can't download it for free, and their goal is to tackle Microsoft head-on. They used to advertise as "runs windows programs" but they have cut way back on that angle.
Lycoris is not for everyone, but it might be right for everyone's grandmother.
Actually, it would prove rather difficult.
In fact, the Linux ACPI development project has declared it impossible.
I couldn't find the direct quote, but this sums up the situation.
Basically, the framework for notifying each device driver that the system is sleeping/waking up is not possible with 2.4. There were major changes in 2.5 to add support for this.
They are not pulling a Robertson and keeping their tools closed-source. Aside from Iris, their easy-install software gallery, they have released source on everything that makes Lycoris Lycoris. I would rather give an absolute beginner Lycoris than, say, Mandrake. You can get lost in Mandrake if you are a newbie.
I worry about the future of Lycoris because of this hideous, screwed-up SCO mess. I worry because what Joseph and his buddies have put together is really, really good, and they had the "it just works" thing down even before Mandrake got the hang of it. Yeah, Lycoris is designed to be Windows-refugee friendly. It doesn't mean what they are doing doesn't have value.
If you want to see the real face of Lycoris, stop in at http://www.lycoris.org/ and check out the community behind it. There's some good people there. And nobody will tell you to "man man" there.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.