Clerks BLAH!

One of the biggest downfalls to having a netbook, or a small laptop computer is having a small amount of screen real estate.  Plus with it being a NETbook is does spend a lot of it’s time online online, so an ideal app would be one that solves these issues.

Well that’s one (of the many) great features of the Google Chrome web browser.  It has taken the idea of browser tabs and pushed them up into the title bar, plus made it’s address bar into a single bar and also included your nav buttons and your menu system.  Also, the status bar (at the bottom) is hidden, unless it is in use.

One of the other great features of this browser is that it is very very fast.  The initial program loading time is less than half the time it takes to load Mozilla Firefox, and the page loading time is faster than BOTH Firefox and Internet Explorer.  See this CNET article for more information.

It’s a fast and compact browser that is free to download and works better than it’s counterparts.  You can’t go wrong!

Google Chrome is available for download from: http://www.google.com/chrome

xPUD is classified as an “Instant On OS”, which means that it boots very fast, and is designed for when you are on the go, and you don’t want to have to wait for Windows to boot up all the way. You just want to be able to turn on your computer and either do something online or work with a document, or both.

xPUD is downloaded as a Windows .exe file, ant installs just like any other program.

Once installed, you simply have to reboot, and select it from the Windows startup boot screen. Once selected the entire operating system will be displayed in anywhere from 7 seconds to 15 seconds (hardware dependent).

The initial boot will probably take longer because the system has to figure out what all of your hardware is, but don’t fret, just reboot again – This time with your stopwatch ready – and then you will be able to enjoy the ultra fast boot.

The best thing about this program is that it is FREE.  There are many others out there with similar programs, that make you pay $20 or more.  Plus they have a live CD (or USB flash drive) that you can download to try it before you install it.  Also remember, that since it is installed like a regular Windows program, it is also uninstalled the same way.  You don’t have to deal with repartitioning your hard drive, or have to worry about data loss.