In the next 60 days or so, the folks over at Linspire are promising some major changes, some of which sound real exciting and should make using Linux even easier for us to use. If I am reading this correctly, and I think I am, it sounds like Freespire will be based on Ubuntu version 7.04 Fiesty Fawn. From the statement I received it states:
Freespire OS
The new Freespire 2.0 operating system starts with Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) for its baseline, and then integrates the latest KDE, the new CNR, and the latest 3rd-party proprietary software, drivers and codecs for better hardware and multimedia support. Freespire also includes dozens of other changes to make Freespire easier to use. This new OS will be the most current and advanced desktop Linux operating system available anywhere.
I think that it is great news to see Ubuntu and Linspire working together to bring the best possible Linux operating system to us. The biggest benefit is going to be CNR – Click-N-Run. I know, I’ve mentioned this so many times that you might be getting tired of hearing it. But I have used it and it is fantastic. The feature fully explains what softwares are available for Linux, driver updates, and fixes/patches and automatically installs them for you. You are going to like this feature a lot. The newsletter states:
CNR.com
CNR has been completely revamped and will live on its own website CNR.com, incorporating Web 2.0 technology and begin supporting several other popular Linux distributions. The new CNR Warehouse will be full of the latest and greatest products, and the new CNR.com infrastructure will make it possible for us to keep products current moving forward.
So it looks like by June we should have all of the latest toys to play with. I think this is going to be a giant shot in the arm for Linux and truly make it a viable alternative to Windows. The simplicity of Ubuntu/Kubuntu and Freespire coupled with CNR technology is going to be the best thing that has happened to Linux in years.
Now if Dell keeps its word and goes with one of these versions using CNR, this could turn out to be a huge step for bringing Linux to the masses. It should be very interesting to see how this all plays out. This might even be a good time for Google to get involved as well. They can call their version Googleux.
And it gets better. IT IS ALL GOING TO BE FOR FREE! 🙂
Full details here.
Comments welcome.
[tags]linux, freespire, ubuntu, kubuntu, CNR, free, [/tags]
This is an ideal time for Linux to be opened to the masses. It looks like M$ has badly stepped on their dixks with VI$TA. Go LIspire, Go!
They have been so arrogant that it was inevitable. I loathe Bill Gates
Hello GaryK,
Thanks for your comment. It should be a very interesting year to see just how Linux does. 🙂
Ron
It seems that many things are happening to affect MS. They made big mistakes, but everyone else is catching up, which would have happened anyway. MS is a juggernaut, however, and I’m sure that they have something in the works as this is written. MS has always had a siege mentality, which will serve them well, now that they are under seige.
Hi Marc,
Maybe MS will come out with their own Linux distro. 🙂
I seem to remember reading something years ago that if the only thing you’re using your TV is for watching DVD’s (not Blu-ray) and over-the-air signals…720p/1080i is the highest you need. The reason is most/all DVD’s are 720X480 and no broadcaster is sending out a signal which is higher than 1080i anyway.
Interlaced video is NOT an artifact of old hardware. The specification was designed to handle a specific problem that you will see with progressive footage. Interlaced video compensates for this issue a bit, but adds it’s own artifact (as you mention).
At 30fps (29.97fps) means that it takes ~.03 for each frame to draw, and the bottom part of the image is drawn (captured) before the top portion of the image. This means that when something (eg. a vertical pole) moves horizontally across the screen – progressive footage will cause it (the vertical pole) to appear to lean quite a bit.
30fps frame-rate footage, using interlaced will reduce this artifact by half. The scan will go from bottom to top in 1/2 the time (~.015 second) of the progressive frame, and then repeat the process again to fill the lines between (odd/even frames). You should only notice the jagged lines when the frame is paused, or when the video is converted to progressive.
Of course, the story doesn’t end there.
The next piece of information is that modern cameras/televisions are faster, having 60fps. So, keeping the same leaning artifact we had at 30fps with interlaced can now be done without using interlaced. We can use progressive, and have limited leaning artifacts with 60fps, but the leaning artifact still does exist! So, what happens if we continue to use interlaced? Well, the leaning artifact is diminished even more, as each pass of the scan-line takes 1/2 (~.008) of what we’ve been used to all the years before HD.
So, which is better when buying a television: It doesn’t matter. It’s about how the video was captured. Progressive footage converted to interlaced video looks exactly the same as it would if the television was progressive. The difference is how it’s drawn, and quite frankly – interlaced is going to look smoother.
As far as buying a camera? Progressive video cameras are is nice for getting screen shots out of the footage, and as long as you’re not doing green screen – it probably doesn’t matter in any way. If you think you need 1080p – I’d think about colorspace (4:0:0 vs. 4:2:0 vs. 4:4:4) before worrying about interlaced vs. progressive.
Also keep in mind that DVD is anamorphic widescreen. Thus, the frame is actually 640×480 with a vertically stretched version of the image, which is stretched back to 720×480 during output. See “anamorphic widescreen” in Wikipedia for details.
never seen how 1080i looks when there is motion but i would stick with 720p to be safe