Who and what is Keepod

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Keepod is a method of using one old redundant laptop to help many children learn computing skills by having an operating system on a Thumb drive. Each child is given there own Thumb drive complete with an Android operating system which also holds there own required applications. Their settings and files are held "in the cloud". As soon as one child is finished with the computer another child can insert their Thumb drive and Log in which will automatically adjust to their settings and applications. The Computer has had the Hard drive removed so nothing is left on the computer as one child finishes, and another starts. Therefore one old computer has many users with unique applications. There is nothing new in this method but the Media has been running stories on it as Kenya is initiating a large scale push for the idea. Keepod is made by an firm in Israel, and can be purchased for $US 7. This could be a useful idea for Seniornet people that have slow laptops that could be revitalised as a fast modern machine.

Android as a home computer

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I have been testing the recently released 'Android for a PC' operating system for the last month. The test machine is a four year old Toshiba 10" Laptop with 1Gb RAM. Installation took aroud five minutes on a 4Gb SD card. Once booted a Google Account needed to be signed in and everything was automatically set up. Using Google Play I put the following extra Apps on: Astro (File Manager), Open Office (Documents and Spreadsheets), Skype (Video calling), iPrint&Scan (Brother wireless multifunction printer and scanner), Adobe reader (PDF's), Overdrive (Library books), Firefox(Internet browsing), E-mail (Pre installed) and Media player (Pre installed for Pictures, Music and Movies). Ethernet and Wireless connections both worked well along with the external mouse. The only disadvantage was that only one application at a time can be displayed on the screen, although some manufacturers can allow a split screen to give two apps side by side. This post was written on this described system. I found this system to be reliable and as fast as a normal PC. Virus checking is not required. USB flashdrives can be used for extra storage.

Asus builds cheap Chromeboxes

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Asus are moving back to making Desktop computers again, but with a Chrome operating system. These are designed as a modern system so Legacy Windows programs will have to be run remotely from a another computer via 'Remote desktop software'. Like all Chrome Os systems these are maintenance free. At US $179 this is very cheap and probably aimed more at businesses although would make an excellent home computer if Web browsing and e-mail are the main use. A full off-line media player is standard.

Android available for existing computers

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Android 4.4 RC1 is available as a download for installing on a PC. It can be installed on a USB stick or SD card for testing purposes without interfering with the original operating system. Most modern computers before Windows 8 allow booting from USB or CD's. My test machine was a 5 year old entry level laptop with 1Gb RAM. Boot time was around 40 seconds and Shutdown 15 seconds. No virus scanning needed. The wireless printer / scanner worked with the iPrint&Scan App from the Google store correctly. Web and e-mail App's worked perfectly on Ethernet and wireless connections. Skype automatically set itself up with the internal camera and microphone. External drives were usable but the internal hard disk drive could not be seen. Open office 3.6 is available on the Google store but cannot open the writer and spreadsheet together, although Android 4.4 does support two Applications at once. Remote desktop software can be used to run Windows programs from another computer. Operation is very fast with screens that fade in and out giving an appearance similar to a tablet. This software could give a new life to many slow and old computers.

First Chromebooks, and now Chromeboxes

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Chromebooks are now manufactured by most major PC makers except ASUS. As this space is a little overcrowded ASUS are betting on a Desktop system rather than a Laptop. These will be available in March 2014 for US $179 recommended retail price. This is a quiet "Fanless" machine running the new Haswell processor from Intel. Ports include USB 3.0, Ethernet, Wireless, Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI, Displayport and card reader. The Hard drive is a 16Gb Solid state disk which is ample for the Lightweight Chrome Operating System. Personal files are held in the cloud or External USB drives. Both HP and LG are also promising Chromeboxes in the next couple of months.

Libreoffice 4.2 released

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This release is a major release with many speed and function enhancements. Docx file editing has better compatibility with Microsoft office files. Publisher and Visio files can now be used in this edition. Most of the updates are geared towards business usage as many Governments are now requiring open source solutions. This fully featured package is available free for Windows, Mac and linux.

XP last update is in April

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For those worried about Microsoft withdrawing XP support in April there are several options.

1) Windows 8.1 RT or Microsoft surface. Cheapest Windows 8 but does not run XP / Win 7 programs.

2) Windows 8.1 or surface Pro. Runs XP / Win 7 programs but may not have drivers for older peripherals. Requires Virus checking and is expensive.

3) Chromebooks. Cheap with limitations. Only real issues for general use are no Skype or iTunes. These are now being manufactured by every major PC company except ASUS. These have been heavily advertised against by Microsoft which means they are worried about their impact. All their adverse reasoning also pertains to Windows 8 RT which is their favoured system.

4) Android Desktops. Several manufacturers are selling their monitors with Android and come complete with keyboard and mouse. Open office is now available for Android.

5) Tablets. The latest tablets do most things a PC does and is particularly useful with a keyboard and mouse attached.

6) Linux Mint 16. User experience is similar to a XP interface. The only general use program that there is no real equivalent is iTunes.  

7) XP. Keep using it and rely on third party Updates.

8) Dual boot XP and Linux. Leave XP on computer to run legacy programs but disconnect from the Internet. Use a Linux variant for Internet applications and other general use programs. Use a third partition for personal files that both operating systems can use. Total time to reboot to other system should be less than one minute.