I am definitely liking what I see with EmperorLinux more and more each day. My latest discovery is support for EVDO and RTT pre-configured without this kind of headache! It’s wild as I have never purchased a pre-configured Linux box in my life (for myself), but when you have someone who takes care of TabletPC abilities, EVDO connectivity, and even built-in finger print reader compatibility (select notebooks), the choice becomes clear very quickly.

Once again, EmperorLinux offers some great options for those of you who have been using Linux as a secondary (or primary) operating system already, but have been frustrated by not getting full functionality out of your current notebook computer.

So now I suppose the question on the minds of most people that do enjoy Linux (note the qualifier) but lack the resources to simply drop everything to buy a brand new notebook is: what can we do?

I have been thinking a lot about that lately and am willing to run a complete series for people who are willing to put in a little elbow grease to get their systems working up to par. If you are willing and interested, I will run articles detailing how to do the following with a standard Ubuntu Dapper installation:

• Flash 9 installation (still in Beta, works well with NVIDIA cards)

• A Yahoo! messenger application with voice and Webcam support (will include the exact cam model that I have found to officially support Linux as listed on their packaging)

• Locating software not included in the Add/Remove area offered with Ubuntu software repositories. (No compiling here, folks)

• Making your DV Tape Video camera work (no excuses 1394 support) for video editing with Kino

• Dual monitor support for Nvidia AGP cards (most models)

• MSN clone with Webcam support (see Yahoo! blurb above)

• Skype, Picassa, multimedia codecs, Wi-Fi cards (802.11g), and Google Earth – each with click through installations

• Step by step guide for “ghosting” your hard drive using a true GPL compliant option to an external USB connected hard drive – hose your Ubuntu install – who cares? With this backup, you’re ready to go!

So what’s it going to be? Another day using your Linux install as a “toy” or are those of you who have Linux installed already finding that Vista’s hoops have you ready to take a new direction? Better industry adoption needs to start with us. Improvements are happening all the time, but we need to keep working at it to make sure hardware manufacturers understand that not supporting us will mean we will not be supporting them.

It’s up to you, email me and convince me that spending my time sharing this with you will be information that is wanted and valued. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

[tags]Vista, Linux, Ubuntu, Yahoo, MSN, notebook[/tags]