To follow up on my prior post, I’ve now been using Jolicloud for a few weeks.  They have rolled out some system updates in that time, and it’s been interesting to see what they have and have not done.  Much of their time spent focusing on system updates has been to improve core functionality across a number of hardware platforms.  This is an age-old issue for Linux, and it’s one I expect, so I get that.  They’ve also quite wisely spent time working on improving Mozilla Firefox performance on their supported netbooks.  Again, this is a great thing.  Firefox very clearly is written for a desktop.  On a netbook, it grinds on the SSD very hard and performance drags, especially on sites like Facebook.

They’ve also been growing their apps base by leaps and bounds, and many of the apps they’ve added range somewhere between amusing and useful.  I’ll soon write a post about the Jolicloud apps I’m using the most.  I’m really pleased that Jolicloud understands that netbook apps need to be “simplified” and given an almost toy-like interface to be useful.  On a desktop, this feels like the app is being dumbed down.  On the small form factor of a netbook, it’s essential.

Unfortunately, what they haven’t focused on is replacing the Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR) launcher and home screen.  Until they do this, using Jolicloud is like wearing a hospital gown.  From the front, you’re great…but your rear end is hanging out.  All their efforts in making a beautiful app store and easy installer are essentially for naught.  You click the app you want, you click the install button, and then you get to play a guessing game of where the app will appear in the UNR categories.  This is truly, truly useless.

The social aspects of Jolicloud, promised in their marketing materials, are still essentially absent.

The Jolicloud app store has this “labs” tab that entices the eye but which is disabled.  I don’t even know what it does.  I keep hoping to, one day, discover it will help me get my own apps and widgets into Jolicloud.  I want to write myself some stuff to help with my use of BART, Caltrain, and VTA.  Hockey season is around the corner, and I want to write a dashboard for my beloved Sharks.  And I could, I guess…I can side-load whatever I want using some instructions offered in the community site.

But why should I?  Come on, guys.  Enable your alpha testers!

Oh, and one more thing — disable the keyring password, already! I, like most sane people, put a password on my Wifi network.  Every other machine in my house is happy to take that Wifi password and hold onto it without requiring me to then password-protect the Wifi password.  I am happy to take the small reduction in security if it means not entering my keyring password when I boot my netbook.  Really, guys.  If Vista taught us anything, its that users hate being asked to enter their password or even click a button confirming they want to do an administrative action.  It’s bad enough that we have to enter a password to install Jolicloud apps.  Entering one when I connect to my Wifi network is insult to injury.

Things are improving, but fundamentally, it’s still not a real improvement over other UNR choices.