Intel has announced the availability of the first Moblin 2 beta release. This version introduces the platform's innovative new user interface. Although there are still some rough edges, it delivers impressive usability and aesthetic sophistication. I tested the beta on my Dell Mini 9 netbook so that I could get a real hands-on look at the new version.

Moblin is Intel's Linux-based based mobile platform for netbooks and MIDs. It is heavily optimized for the Atom processor and is designed to work well on small form-factor devices. The project is gaining significant traction among Linux distributors and many have partnered with Intel to participate in the development effort. Individual distributors will integrate Moblin components into their own netbook platforms or build their own derivatives.

Moblin and its various components are distributed under open source software licenses, which means that it can be freely modified and redistributed. Intel recently turned over control of the project to the Linux Foundation with the aim of making it even more open to other contributors. The long-term goal is to turn Moblin into the nexus of mobile Linux development and make it the de facto standard Linux platform for portable devices.

Intel has provided several alpha releases this year which have demonstrated the platform's broad hardware compatibility, excellent boot performance, and other technical features. The alpha releases, however, did not include Intel's unique user interface components. A lightweight Xfce layer was used instead as a placeholder. In the new beta release, Intel has finally unveiled its new graphical shell, a highly specialized desktop environment that is designed to provide an optimal user experience on netbook devices.

The new interface is built with Clutter, an open source scene graph framework that supports hardware-accelerated rendering. Clutter was created by OpenedHand, an open source startup that Intel acquired last year. The Clutter framework is closely aligned with the GNOME ecosystem and has been adopted by several prominent vendors that are building Linux platforms with GNOME technology. Clutter is used pervasively in Nokia's next-generation Internet Tablet operating system and will also be used in the next major version of ACCESS's smartphone operating system.

Unlike Android, Moblin's graphics stack includes a standard Xorg server and can run conventional desktop Linux applications. Much of the software that is available today on mainstream Linux distributions can be brought to Moblin without requiring any porting effort. In fact, the beta includes quite a few standard GTK+ applications, such as GEdit.

The new Clutter-based shell differentiates Moblin's user experience from a conventional desktop distro. A tabbed panel that slides down from the top of the screen provides task management functionality, application launchers, and easy access to much of the platform's underlying multimedia, social networking, Web, and productivity capabilities.

Moblin uses an unusual task management paradigm that is well-suited to mobile devices. Applications are organized into "zones," which are loosely analogous to virtual desktops. When I launch an application, the shell will automatically create a new zone in which to house the program's windows. When all of the windows in a zone have been closed, the shell will automatically remove the Zone. The zones tab on the Moblin panel will display thumbnail previews of all of the windows in each zone. You can switch to a certain zone or window by clicking, and you can move windows between zones by dragging and dropping the thumbnails. The zones tab in the shell is Moblin's replacement for the conventional taskbar.

The applications tab displays launchers for the software installed on the system. The launchers are organized into categories and are searchable. When the cursor is hovering over a launcher, a pin icon will appear in the top right-hand corner. The user can click the pin to make the application show up in the favorites list at the top of the launcher tab. The user's favorite applications will also show up on the home screen, which we will examine later in this article.

Social networking and instant messaging features are an important part of Moblin. The platform includes Empathy, GNOME's open source instant messaging client, which is built on the telepathy presence and messaging framework. In the beta release, I was able to configure Empathy to connect with my Google Talk account. When Empathy is running, the user's contacts will appear in the People tab along with their buddy icons. Users can start new conversations by clicking on one of the contacts.