How does Lattitude On work?

I know it is Linux, but does it have the usual Linux stuff installed, such as emacs, bash, etc? If not, can I install them myself? I am seriously thinking about buying a business-class notebook and comparing between Lenovo X200, Sony Z, and Dell Latitude E4200. Many thanks.

 

Latitude ON is not fully implemented yet. It was supposed to be ready sometime in November 2008 IIRC but to date, you still can't get the full implementation. Right now the Latitude ON feature is a gimped version of what it should be capable of.

I have very limited experience with the current implementation but about the only thing you can really do is synch with MS Outlook each time MS Outlook runs. If you don't use Outlook, you're SOL.

The full implementation is supposed to have an ARM processor with some sort of *nix and I'm guessing some flash memory, but I'm not really certain. I've seen a splashtop implementation on an Asus desktop mobo and it was kinda neat, but wasn't really something I was interested in for desktop use. On a laptop with limited battery life, it would be something I would be interested in though. That Asus implementation had a web browser, picture viewer, and a few other features that I can't think of ATM. I'm guessing that is what is supposed to become available for Latitude ON if it doesn't turn into vaporware. The bottom of my E4300 has a connector for Latitude ON but it's just an empty slot for now.

 

That's what I thought. But they I saw this post today: http://blogs.computerworld.com/the_first_dual_windows_linux_pcs_arrive

 

Seems like a marketing stunt. Dell has been pulling this off for six or more months. They demo but don't put the system in mass production.

 

Then I am back to square one, still face some difficult decisions between Sony, Lenovo, and Dell.

 

Maybe this can help:
Latitude ON feature discussion (my post #11)
Latitude ON Reader and MS Outlook (my post #3)

cheers

K.