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I don't use my netbook that often, only when I am travelling away from home. Windodows XP was OK but I became tired of spending lots of time doing all the windows updates and updating the virus program, the firewall and all the other programs I use just to keep it running properly and securely. I had tried linux before but found setting it up and getting all the hardware running was too difficult. Then I found jolicoud, I put it alongside windows xp to start with but soon decided it had everything I need and I no longer required windows. It is very easy to use, adding programs or apps is easy and updating everything is quick and simple. It is based on a linux OS but they have worked hard to make sure everything works on netbooks. The only problem I had with my Compaq Mini 700 was getting the microphone to work but that was simple to fix.

Jolicloud uses lots of free alternative versions of programs that most of us will of used. The gimp is a great photo editing program, quite similar to photoshop. Open office is similar to microsoft office. They also have most of the programs I use all the time with windows, like firefox, thunderbird, skype and spotify. Putting these on to the computer was so easy, I registered with them, logged in to "My Jolicloud" found the apps in the directory and clicked "install". This is an interesting use of the cloud, I can see other operating systems working like this in the future.

Changing an OS is a big step, the new layout takes a bit of getting used to. Everything has been optimized for a netbook but I am getting used to it and haven't had any real problems adapting.

So far, I couldn't be more pleased with jolicloud. If you want to try it out, you can use it alongside your current OS. Just go to their site, download the software, put it on a USB stick and follow their instructions.