Transmeta unveils mobile Linux

14 Mar 2001 08:22

The company that employs Linux creator Linus Torvalds releases Midori -- the 'green' operating system

Transmeta, the employer of Linux founder Linus Torvalds, has released Midori, its version of Linux for mobile devices.

Transmeta, which sells low-power, Intel-compatible processors called Crusoe, previously referred to Midori as Mobile Linux. Transmeta has been working on the Midori additions to Linux for more than a year. Now it has released the software as an open-source project at VA Linux Systems' SourceForge site.

Transmeta expects Midori to be used in smaller Crusoe-based mobile devices, while Microsoft's Windows will continue to dominate laptops, the company has said. Midori is used in Gateway's Touch Pad, a product from which Gateway is retreating.

Several new products using Midori will be shown next week at the Cebit computer show in Germany, Transmeta said. Sharp has already announced plans to launch a Linux-based PDA, and Hewlett-Packard is among the other major manufacturers to have mulled the idea.

Linux developers along with competitors such as Microsoft and Red Hat have been waiting for months to see what improvements Midori would bring to the kernel of Linux. Now those details are starting to emerge. Additions include support for power management hardware that reduces electricity consumption and support for the power-saving features of the Crusoe chip.

It also has a file system that runs in flash memory rather than a hard disk. Flash memory, which unlike regular computer memory retains data even when power is switched off, is used in many gadgets. There is also a file system that lives in regular computer memory.

Midori is designed to let devices turn on quickly, connect to the Internet and be personalized, Transmeta said. The software uses the Xfree86 graphics system, which some have complained is too bulky for small devices.

Unlike regular Linux -- a clone of the venerable Unix operating system -- Midori doesn't prompt for a username and password.

The name Midori, which means "green" in Japanese, was chosen to reflect Transmeta's emphasis on lower power consumption and therefore more environmentally sound computer systems, the company said.

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