OEone has released their source code and have now a free download of the HomeBase Desktop, a desktop enviroment based on Mozilla’s API that runs on top of Red Hat Linux. Update: OfB hosts an interview with Peter Bojanic who is the VP, Software Development of OEone.
OEone Source Code Available
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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I couldn’t help but laugh; on my work machine (where I’ve been unable to shake Windows – yet!) their page does not render on IE6 properly!
Ironic, no?
You better check out that IE6 installation of yours. It renders on my stock IE6 on WinXP *perfectly*, the same way as Mozilla does.
renders fine on my ie6 win98 also.
i definitely want to try this out ^^
do you have by any chance your font settings set to 125% (or any value bigger than 100% in your windows setting) ?
If so that’s a Microsoft Internet Explorer bug, don’t bitch at OE
If anyone installed it already, one couldn’t not to notice that they use the Ximian Gnome installer (even the colors are the same)
Bugger it – it gave me the much-needed excuse to spend a couple of minutes and download Mozilla!
Their iMac-like machine is gone! Is this, combined with the source release, a sign of trouble times? Their desktop seems very cool from the screenshots, but the Internet Appliance strategy does not seem to work.
Strange I can find any screen shots on their page.
Hi Eugenia,
As the resident web developer and browser expert maybe you can tell me why this page is rendering on my IE6 with a font size that I’d need a microscope to see? I’m not saying small here, I’m saying TINY.
It’s happening on two different machines, and it’s not as though I’m running stuff at a particularly high res (21″ screen, 1152 x 864, small fonts).
Which page? the osnews or the oeone? Because both render fine here and IE6. Check your font sizes under View/TextSize.
Their pages render fine for me (NT4 w/Mozilla 1.0). It does look kind of funky, and if it was cross-platform, the potential market would be huge if business would take it up.
Seeing as this is solely for Linux (though they mention that a Windows/OSX version could be done), does this count as innovation for the Linux desktop? (i.e., not slavishly copying what’s on Windows/BeOS/MacOS etc).
The screenshots on the front page are quite small. Where can I find bigger ones?
Well, I’m a little peeved that I just paid about $50CDN to try out HomeBase, and now they’re giving it away. Either way, it’s a very cool environment. It’s great to see someone doing something truly novel with X, Linux and Mozilla. I wish them luck, this is a very interesting approach.
To see some decent screenshots, you need to veiw there demo: [url]http://www.oeone.com/products/demo.html%5B/url].
Its actually pretty good flash. You can naviagate to the parts that interest you at your own speed, or let the demo guide you.
I have to say that I’m impressed! Can’t wait to try it. Just a side note thought for those wondering what happened to the IA market. Think about it. Who wants to pay $300-$500 for an internet appliance when you can pay about $650 and get a fully funcitonal PC (admittedly not the best PC)? If the IA were around $150, maybe they might go somewhere. IIRC, there device was something like M$ vision of the tablet PC, right? That might have been very cool… I can’t really explain it, but I am facinated by the concept of the tablet PC, not nessiarly M$ vision of it. I think this would work well as an ‘Operating Enviroment’ for a tablet PC. Just add handwriting recog. and your set!
I just woke up and I see this one, I wanted to try OEone sometime ago, I’m downloading it right away.
Holy Crap! the OEone.com website has been redesigned, nice! So they finally made real their announcement about installing OEone over a RedHat install. It says RH7.1 or 7.2. Say, what if I try it over Limbo? I guess that has to be broken somewhere, I’ll try it over 7.2 first.
I like to wake up with this kind of news. Tomorrow I want one about Palm licensing BeOS, ok?
Chris: IIRC, there device was something like M$ vision of the tablet PC, right?
Totally different. Tablet PCs are something like laptops. It runs Windows XP, it uses laptop hardware. Only thing is that it has handwriting recogniction and a touch screen. Most tablet PCs come with a detachable keyboard, or a keyboard that could be hidden (i.e. like the Clie).
As for OS, the Tablet PC is very different from the IAs. Simply because it does more than Internet and simple word processing. Just take it this way. IAs is an overhyped Internet ready Palmtop, while Tablets are also an overhyped laptops without keyboards (or detachable/hidden ones) with a touchscreen :-D.
m: I like to wake up with this kind of news. Tomorrow I want one about Palm licensing BeOS, ok?
Dream about it 🙂
here they are, buried three links in …
http://www.oeone.com/products/screenshots.html
I wonder if some of the post-Be inc. companies can provide such service through and for OpenBeOS ?
YellowTab?
BeBits?
It is defi9natly great way to maintain Linux system with upgrades and keep your mobility!
Can anybody lighten me up and explain the advantage of this ?
(if there is any…)
Before everyone starts yelling that Linux is finally innovating, take a look at MSN explorer. It’s not *quite* as all-encompasing as this (lacks a word processor) but it has all the rest.
And I can’t stand it.
>>Before everyone starts yelling that Linux is finally innovating, take a look at MSN explorer. It’s not *quite* as all-encompasing as this (lacks a word processor) but it has all the rest.
And I can’t stand it.<<
as far as i have read about this it is not like msn explorer at all. its the gui for the os. unless msn explorer can be a gui for windows
.
I know that the answer is probably no, but will it install on Mandrake 8? Isn’t Mandrake supposed to be based on RedHat code, or did they stop that?
I’ve never used MSN explorer myself so I am a bit confused. Does it have full multi-media capabilities (MP3’s, MPEG’s, AVI’s etc) including the ability to watch TV? All without being currently connected to the net! That is impressive!
And MSN explorer can run all the native applications too! Wowie! That means all my stats stuff, my compilers/interpreters, spreadsheets and text processing stuff works on MSN explorer too! (not to mention system coniguration) If that is the case, then OEone is dead.
Unless of course MSN Explorer doesn’t do all of this at all. In which case “everyone” can yell that OEone IS innovating.
Looks like basically a desktop designed by AOL. Except a lot less ugly.
I haven’t used it, so it might end up being screenshot-ware (aka, stuff that looks nice in screenshots, but is horrible to use it practice).
The big plusses:
– It looks like it covers the basic requirements of most adult computer users/potential computer users.
– It’s not AOL
– It appears to be fairly simplistic and consistent
– Since it’s reportedly based on Mozilla, it should be relatively portable
The minuses:
– thinking about the number of layers of abstraction makes my head hurt… X11 > windowmanager > desktop environment > mozilla > homebase
– mozilla, at least the UI bits, isn’t exactly a speed demon… I suspect HomeBase inherits a fair amount of that sluggishness