Asus Eee PC: Full Desktop Mode and Easy Mode, your choice

Aaron raised a good point in a post comment that I wanted to highlight and expand upon. Many folks are interested in the simple, custom environment that the Asus Eee PC offers and rightly so. The target audience for this device is well served by the one-click shortcuts with plain descriptive names. For example: your web-based activities are on the Internet tab; in fact to open Firefox and surf the web, you just click the shortcut called "Web". It's really that simple in terms of logical design and layout.

However, more advanced users would be well served by using the standard K Desktop Environment (KDE) in Xandros: you have more options and ways to customize the experience.

This entry over at the EeeUser Wiki details three ways to enable Full Desktop mode. I did this just yesterday afternoon and have the best of both worlds: a simple interface for the kids but a quick way to switch to an advanced mode when I want to play. I now have an extra option in my shut down menu to switch over to Full Desktop mode and of course, in that mode, there's an option to switch to the out-of-box interface by choosing Easy Mode.

As Aaron correctly stated, if you're wondering about the capabilities of the Eee from the software side of the house, it can pretty much do anything out of the box that's supported in the Xandros Linux distro. While it's nice to have a smart UI for the target audience, it's also useful to have a more robust environment as well. I still think the simple UI would be nice on a touchscreen UMPC. You just can't miss those big shortcuts with your finger!

Comments

[vm-01]

You kinda get the feeling that the Origami team is saying "D'OH" right about now.

[ArchiMark]

Kevin,

Just got my lil' eee this morning and having much fun with it so far!

It sort of feels like an enlarged Zaurus SL-C3200 that I used to have in the sense of it's openness and hackability...have a feeling a lot more fun will be on the way with this lil' puppy.... ;-)

Already, did the hack to enable advanced desktop mode...very nice!

In one of the posts on eeeuser.com there was a link for a 'super easy' way to enable this mode....worked great and was easy too....check it out at

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/11/06/eee-pc-tips-a-crash-course-in-linux/

Mark
Happy eee PC camper....

[Chinoto Vokro]

Just what I need for me and my brother. I can't stand the baby simple interfaces that restrict the user on some of the tablet computers, whereas my brother can't understand most of the slightly advanced features.

[Steve]

the link that vm-01 posted worked quite well but my eee pc just keeps loading the easy mode! Could someone tell me how to fix this please?

[Henning Langkjer]

Did not work for me. Nothing happens.