Jolicloud "Robby" Beta To Ship WIth Linux 2.6.32

In early September we featured an article on Jolicloud Linux, which sought to provide innovations atop Ubuntu Netbook Remix by enriching the experience for cloud computing and through their Jolicloud service to have easy access to various web-based applications. At that time we were seeded with an early alpha build of Jolicloud, but this morning (just a day after we published the first Chrome OS benchmarks), their CEO has provided us with a pre-beta copy of Jolicloud (codenamed "Robby").

The interface looks much the same as when we looked at it nearly three months ago (it's derived from the work Canonical did on Ubuntu Netbook Remix) and there are much the same applications, but continued work is going into the Jolicloud service. Additionally, this pre-beta copy is shipping with the soon-to-be-released Linux 2.6.32 kernel, but they are sticking with X Server 1.6 at this time rather than jumping to X Server 1.7. The Jolicloud Robby beta will also feature support for Intel's Poulsbo (the GMA500 series hardware).

The folks at Jolicloud have also been working on Jolicloud Express, which is a Windows installer for installing Jolicloud Linux alongside an existing Windows installation -- likely their version of Ubuntu's Windows installer named Wubi.

Those interested in trying out Jolicloud still need to request an invitation to gain access to their spins. We anticipate the pre-beta or beta version of Jolicloud Robby will be released there in the near future. For now, you can enjoy our screenshots.