OS2008

I've upgraded my internet tablet to OS2008 (Chinook), although the process wasn't straightforward. The first problem was that the USB ports on my desktop computer are messed up, if you plug in certain devices the machine just powers down instantly and makes a strange hissing sound, and the ports don't appear to be powered properly. I think it's some electrical fault, or a borked motherboard. This meant that although my PC could access the memory cards on the N800, the tablet wouldn't recognise that it was plugged in when I tried to put it into update mode. I overcame this by using the laptop, although this meant using the Windows update tool instead of the superior Linux flasher. I used the official OS2008 beta image for the N800, however while the new OS seemed better and much more responsive, one vital thing didn't work - WiFi. It would always pop up an error about not being given an IP address and despite fiddling with the router and reflashing nothing would make it work. Pairing with my phone via bluetooth also failed to work.

I had another option, using the OS2008 image intended for the N810 tablet, which people had successfully managed to do before the official N800 beta firmware was released, but this required the Linux flasher which I was unable to use due to the faulty USB ports. However, when I went to my house in Alfaz I used the old emachines PC there, with Ubuntu, to flash it and finally the WiFi and bluetooth tethering worked.

The new operating system is faster and more polished than older ones, with a Mozilla based browser and a nicer UI, however there are still some more annoying bugs, such as the text sometimes not being removed from the input field of the chat client when the message is sent, other applications stealing the focus when you are trying to type and applications crashing or freezing a few times, most notably the browser. There's also the problem that many apps have not yet been upgraded and those that have often complain about dependencies and make you search around for repositories. If they can fix the various faults then it will be a very powerful and usable mobile operating system.

Update: Now I'm in the other house again, I've found it still won't connect to this router, Grrr: