First Impressions (8gb SSD, Linux Version)

[glibdud]

Who should I/we trust? You and "smacman" or Acer?

From my past experience, I'd trust two people with devices in their hands over a CS rep. But it might be worthwhile to call her back and ask for specific instructions on enabling Advanced mode or installing new software.

[Andysan]

Congrats to all those lucky enough to have an Aspire One!

Can anyone tell me whether you can enable Advanced Mode and install apps please? I assume this will have to be done through the bash prompt...anyone figured out how to get that up yet?

[dbs]

If you want a kind of Advance mode simply open a Terminal.

To do this go to Files > My Documents to open the File Manager. Then go to File > Terminal.

The Linpus Linus is using Xfce, so use
xfce-setting-show
to get the Xfce Settings Manager.

Click on Desktop to get to the Desktop Preferencs and choose the Behavior tab.

Now mark under Menus the Show desktop menu on right click option and close the window.

This setting will allow you to bring up the normal desktop menu when you right click somewhere on the desktop. The Desktop Menu contains much more options than the limited user interface on the Aspire One.

Unter System you will find Add/Remove Software which is the Red Hat/Fedora Packet Manager. You will need your password (the one you set up during installation) to access it. Now you can go nuts and install programs. It's a pretty big selection and the files will be downloaded (you need internet access) and installed for you. If it's an application you usually find it later in the Desktop Menu.

That should be enough for the average user. The advanced ones will just use the Terminal to access what they want.

[loomer]

what about screen? glossy or matte? i've seen both versions on the internet.

[dbs]

It's a glossy screen. So far I've never seen another one and everything I've read mentioned a glossy screen.

A german online mag just tested one:
http://www.golem.de/0807/60947.html

If you don't know the language at least the pictures are good:
http://scr3.golem.de/?d=0807/Aspire-Test&a=60947

They opened the device and have pretty good pictures there.

[Duke]

If you want a kind of Advance mode simply open a Terminal.

Great find!

[Andysan]

If you want a kind of Advance mode simply open a Terminal.

To do this go to Files > My Documents to open the File Manager. Then go to File > Terminal.

The Linpus Linus is using Xfce, so use
xfce-setting-show
to get the Xfce Settings Manager.

Click on Desktop to get to the Desktop Preferencs and choose the Behavior tab.

Now mark under Menus the Show desktop menu on right click option and close the window.

This setting will allow you to bring up the normal desktop menu when you right click somewhere on the desktop. The Desktop Menu contains much more options than the limited user interface on the Aspire One.

Unter System you will find Add/Remove Software which is the Red Hat/Fedora Packet Manager. You will need your password (the one you set up during installation) to access it. Now you can go nuts and install programs. It's a pretty big selection and the files will be downloaded (you need internet access) and installed for you. If it's an application you usually find it later in the Desktop Menu.

That should be enough for the average user. The advanced ones will just use the Terminal to access what they want.

Wow, thanks for that dbs - i followed you other post in the other thread to this one.

Could i ask a few more Q's about the OS please if you dont mind?

When you say "This setting will allow you to bring up the normal desktop menu when you right click somewhere on the desktop", do you mean like this:



Ignoring the arrows and stuff, is either of those the sort of interface that you are presented with?

With full desktop functionality - do you have to right click every time you go back to the desktop to make it reappear - is the advanced desktop still there when you reboot? Have you found anyway of defaulting to the Advanced desktop.

Also, can you install any Red Hat apps - i.e goto http://www.opera.com and install the Opera browser for Red Hat?

Many thanks indeed!

[dbs]

Ignoring the arrows and stuff, is either of those the sort of interface that you are presented with?

No, it has it's own custom and simplified user interface, there is no Desktop in the classic waz instead zou have a navigation panel in the back and no normal start menu.

Here is a screenshot:


This is a picture of the Desktop menu that you can get with the little hack:

With full desktop functionality - do you have to right click every time you go back to the desktop to make it reappear - is the advanced desktop still there when you reboot? Have you found anyway of defaulting to the Advanced desktop.

You have to right click every time to get the menu. It's not full desktop functionality as you don't have the default panel, just the desktop menu itself. This setting stays, pretty much everything else seems to be set back after reboot.

Also, can you install any Red Hat apps - i.e goto http://www.opera.com and install the Opera browser for Red Hat?

I've installed the latest Opera version using the Fedora RPM. Works fine, you just need root access to install it.

[smacman]

Very interesting.. Nice work! Is there any way to modify the items present in the navigation panel? Could we modify it so Thunderbird launches when you click on the mail icon?

[dbs]

Very interesting.. Nice work! Is there any way to modify the items present in the navigation panel? Could we modify it so Thunderbird launches when you click on the mail icon?

You can add items to the Desktop menu very easily but for changing the default interface you would need to mess with the Xfce XML files that generate the default menu. It's fairly easy to understand and has direct links to the images that they use, so you can edit those files and add/change the programs. I have the feeling those settings might be overwritten on reboot again but I'm not sure. It overwrote some changes I made to the desktop when I messed with it once but it left the Desktop Menu change intact. I just had time to play around with it in the evening, not enough to really dig into it yet.