The netbook in question is an HP 2140, and until the other day it was running Meego 1.1. I installed Meego out of interest and because the functionality I was looking for was akin to the iPad. Having just bought an iPad, I wanted to return the netbook to a more productive guise by installing a more feature-rich OS. As I run Ubuntu 11.04 beta 2 (in triple boot with Windows 7 and OSX 10.6.7) on my desktop, the most obvious option was Ubuntu.
There are some benefits to running the Unity shell, a feature of the new Ubuntu version, on a netbook, notably because it started its life as an adaption specific to the netbook edition of Ubuntu. However, I have some doubts about Unity, and was keen to try out the new Gnome shell, key feature of Gnome 3.0. I didn't want to run either of the Suse or Fedora versions of Gnome 3 because I like Debian-based systems, and was looking forward to getting away from the Fedora-based packaging used in Meego, and returning to apt.
The default Ubuntu 11.04 desktop 
The global menu in Ubuntu 11.04 means more screen real-estate and less chrome in a netbook Installation, Part 1Installing Ubuntu 11.04 is extremely simple - the installer sports a pared down desktop, so I could even connect to wifi after ticking that I wanted proprietary software, necessary for the Broadcom wifi driver. Once the OS was installed, I installed a few additional applications, notable Dropbox, Chromium, Comix, Postler, GIMP and Rawstudio. I also installed the Meego interface for Banshee, which I far prefer:
sudo apt-get install banshee-meego
This adds a logo button to the standard Banshee interface which when pressed switches to the pared back Meego interface, a far more suitable interface for a netbook (and I think my preferred interface on a desktop too). To always start with the Meego interface, append " --client=MeeGo" without inverted commas to the Banshee launcher (i.e. in the "Command" section of properties for the launcher).
Banshee sporting the Meego interface or "Netbook Media Panel" (see below for similar view in Gnome 3)Installation, Part 2Installing gnome-shell:
sudo apt-get remove gnome-accessibility-themes
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Log out, then after choosing your user profile from the list, change the type of session from "Ubuntu" to "Ubuntu Gnome shell".
Installation, Part 3Install theme:
sudo apt-get install gnome-themes-standard
This package has the default Gnome 3.0 desktop including windows borders and icons.
Install Gnome Tweak Tool:
sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool
This tool allows far more options for tweaking the interface than the default settings menu.
The Gnome 3.0 interface
The default Gnome 3.0 desktop
Hovering the mouse cursor at screen top left activates the shell overlay 
Applications 
Banshee Meego interface in Gnome 3.0 
Simple and elegant default applications chooser, under System Info in Settings 
IssuesThere are two quite significant issues I have encountered:
- Closing the lid doesn't automatically put the netbook in suspend as it did in Meego, and I cannot find the relevant setting to do so
- More critically, the battery power manager icon won't show (it popped up very briefly when the power had run out and I restarted under AC)
I suspect both issues may be related to the less than optimal installation process and if I want to continue using Gnome 3.0 the battery status issue at least MUST be fixed. I may try installing the Fedora version despite the obvious issues with Yum to see if this rectifies it.
Another "issue" is that the introduction of a global menu to Ubuntu 11.04 means that apps have that bit more screen real-estate, a rather crucial matter for netbooks. I think the new Adwaita theme that Gnome 3.0 uses is quite beautiful, but it is not thin on chrome, and that is most evident when using a browser maximised.
Advantages of Gnome Shell over UnityI far prefer the look and feel of the Gnome shell interface to the Ubuntu Unity experience, with that one caveat regarding the global menu. Workspace switching is elegant and intuitive, and I felt (entirely subjective insight) it ran faster than Unity.
The most obvious advantage is that with a simple move of the mouse to the top left corner of the screen you have immediate access to everything: application menus, files/folders, workspaces, task switching. In unity (by default) access to workspaces is had by hitting an icon on the left-hand taskbar; access to applications is by clicking the Ubuntu icon in the top left; files and folders by hitting a different button on the taskbar; the home folder is accessed via a dedicated icon on the taskbar, the other folders from a different button on the taskbar, which doesn't link to the Home folder as well (!). In comparison to Gnome shell its organisation is all over the place. Very inefficient.
Workspace organisation is a case in point: the Gnome shell solution is dynamic, adding new workspaces as you need them; the Unity solution is to use 4 by default and allow you to set a fixed amount of spaces in settings, but it is a fixed number.
My Opera
This is a difficult review to do, because so many of Neal Stephenson's novels are among my favourites of all time, with Cryptonomicon somewhere near the very top. Reamde is an enjoyable read but suffers by way of comparison to the outstanding work preceding it (from The Diamond Age to Anathem, by way of Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle). Expectation can be a difficult burden, and my expectation of a new Stephenson novel is very high indeed.
