A lot of people have made the assertion that MeeGo could thrive without Nokia’s presence in the collaboration. And, there’s some potential for traction there as Android lawsuits and patent claims mount. However, as they mount, Google has shown their willingness to acquire as many patents as possible to thwart those lawsuits.

In short, those that think that Samsung and LG will dump Android for MeeGo due to patents and licensing… well, are wrong. It isn’t going to happen, probably even if MeeGo bundles a Dalvik runtime, enabling full Android app compatibility.

So, is MeeGo dead? In its current form, yes, I think it is. But, then there is Canonical. Canonical’s efforts in mobile have had far worse failures than MeeGo, however they are the undisputed champion of desktop Linux today.

And therein, we see a solution. Make MeeGo part of the Ubuntu family, and make everyone happy.

I realize there is a lot of motivation around the Qt community to keep MeeGo as-is. However, these Qt attractions lack one focus; a product to sell to consumers. Qt alone does not sell products. And while Canonical’s market share in desktops is fractional, they get Linux, and they know how to foster a product that rivals Google, Apple, and Microsoft.

I think the future of MeeGo rests on a deal being cut, and sadly, I’d say the odds of it happening are only 50/50. Today, there is not one successful real-time OS that lacks restrictions. iOS is real-time, but trapped in a walled garden. Android and Windows Phone 7 are not real-time, and webOS has suffered from being jailed in HP’s devices… where it has rotted.

MeeGo as a platform, I believe can work, however, I believe just as strongly that it will require the embrace of the entire Linux community to catapult it to success in a mainstream consumer audience. Let’s work together to have one true Linux platform become a success across mobile, desktop, and embedded. The Ubuntu umbrella can be one that encourages all other forms of Linux to thrive, even if Ubunutu isn’t how you roll.

Worse, Core i3, i5, and i7 remain desktop chips, so Core 2 still is at the top of the heap for notebooks. So, why no (modern) Core 2 Solo to bridge the gap?

Intel is finally shipping the Core Solo SU3500 (well, I should say, laptop makers can now ship laptops with Core 2 Solos in them). These new Core 2 Solos are using top-grade Core 2 silicon, so the market is back.

Unfortunately, UMPCs are still dead, and bridge notebooks (yes, I’m coining the term bridge notebooks for bridging netbook and notebook), are just starting to trickle out there.

My advice to notebook makers: Up the graphics, and bridge notebooks will start to challenge the market dominance that has become the MacBook Air.

But even I justified paying $275 for an Intel X25-M SSD. And, I’ve got the perfect example of why it makes business sense.

Sure, 17 second startups are great. But, I am in love with my NeatReceipt system. It has saved my bacon over the past year countless times. From finding proof of warranty to tackling my taxes. I can just feed documents through the NeatReceipt, and drop them in my shredder. They’re digitized, in PDF-ready format… and you can search through the text of each and every document on the fly.

You literally can scan every receipt, even fast food ones, and keep track of where every penny goes. I don’t use it for that, but if you want to know how many Burger King TenderGrill, or how many Jack in the Box Chicken Fajita Pitas I order in a year (both rather healthy fast food choices, I might add), it’s as simple as typing that into NeatWorks.

Unfortunately, if you scan every receipt, your database gets crowded. Everything works, but the app does take awhile to load. And, your system won’t multitask as well as it did (you can still surf the web, check your email, just don’t expect to run Windows in the background).

The good news is, this is where the Intel X25-M shines in office situations. With 700 MB worth of receipts, it loads in under 20 seconds. This took about a minute and a half on a hard drive.

So, when Core 2 Solo came out, I was dismayed to learn it was only in ultra-low-voltage configurations. That means that it would become a niche marketing tool, for UMPC and ultraportable notebooks.

Here’s where things get confusing. Intel decided to take the mainstream Core 2 Solo processors (the ones meant for typical laptops and desktops), and re-badge them as Celeron and Pentium E-class processors. Basically, it’s a shell game. Merom (Core 2) chips are being re-badged with the Celeron and Pentium names, since Intel doesn’t have any other chip to use. The cache is cut back, and the chip is sold at a bargin price.

The good news is that Pentium and Celeron are now budget brands with great chips behind them. The bad news is that buyers are being deceived into thinking that Core 2 Duo is worlds better than Celeron chips.

Here’s how I would improve the situation. Take the old-gen (Merom) chips, and continue to market them under Celeron and Pentium. But, take the new Penryn chips and make a budget brand out of them, under Core 2 Solo.

Why does this make more sense? Because Core i7 is just starting to ship. By next year, consumers will have a clear choice; Celeron (being the reliable, budget Merom), Core 2 Duo and Solo (Penryn) for mid-range, and Core i7 (Nehalem) taking the top spot.

What to do with Celeron and Pentium, after that? I say ditch them. Celeron still has a stigma that drives low-end buyers to AMD… not a month (maybe not a week) goes by that I don’t hear someone in a store complaining about their Pentium II-era Celeron system. Pentium lost its charm with the NetBurst era, which lasted far too long and gave AMD the lead.

Intel has shown that a good chip, makes a good brand. Intel should take advantage of that.

What happens, is that after installing the latest ForceWare drivers, Windows Home Server doesn’t allow users to log in via the Console and Remote Desktop. Yes, a graphics card update that winds up locking users out of their Home Server.

I’ve confirmed this with another user’s WHS box, but regression is still coming in. I do not know if it is isolated to PCI/AGP/PCIe, or not. My system has a GeForce 6200 PCI card.

Note that you can still physically log into the home server (by plugging in a display, keyboard, and mouse), but reverting the update doesn’t appear to fix the issue. The only resolution we’ve found so far, is to do a dreaded Server Reinstall.

For some reason my Intel 865 integrated graphics is starting to seem like old faithful…

I’ve used the Eee PC 901 extensively, and this week, I bought an an Acer Aspire One. Using a crafty coupon at Best Buy, I walked out the door with it for $267 with tax. That’s about half what I paid for my Eee PC 901 less than a month ago.

Now, you might think that would be enough to return my Eee PC on its own. But, this is my first Acer computer… and I’ve heard bad things about Acer from around the watercooler at MechaWorks. So, I charged it up and booted it for the first time.

The first thing I noticed, was the keyboard. It is vastly improved over the Eee PC. The keys span from side to side, leaving all of a centimeter on the edges. The result? The keyboard is actually usable.

The trackpad however, is far from good. It’s bad in all new ways. The buttons are on the sides, which is a nice change from the Eee’s thumb-cramping buttons. However, the surface of the trackpad itself is just plain bad. I managed to greatly improve the performance by going into Synaptics’ control panel and increasing the sensitivity level (or rather, lowering it, so a harder press of the trackpaid is used to signal a response). I don’t know what Acer was thinking with the defaults… it made the trackpad into a mouse, and not the kind you plug into a computer.

Also, the Aspire One lacks Bluetooth. For half the price, and the base constraints of the Atom platform… I can see why they did this. Still, it’s going to hurt them in winning over the tech savvy. Dongles are so 20th Century.

However, the Apire One has its advantages too. The 120 GB hard drive flies past the Eee PC’s offerings. And, in addition to the SD slot on the Eee PC family, the Aspire One has two SD card slots. And, the second SD slot on the Aspire One does double duty, supporting Memory Stick (M2, Micro, and MS Pro).

Probably the most irksome problem, is the lack of bundled recovery discs. Today, systems normally come with an option to burn your own recovery discs, using a disc image included on the recovery partition. Not so on the Aspire One. The recovery partition has had the option to burn a Recovery DVD disabled. Granted, the Aspire One has no optical drive… but why prohibit users to burn with an external DVD?

Worse, I don’t even think they can do that per the Microsoft license. What if I want to repartition my drive? Legally, I don’t think I’m obligated to pay shipping and handling for Recovery DVDs (I know, this is an age old debate, but I’m putting my foot down). If I have to pay for the DVDs, I plan to dispute the charge with my credit card company.

But, getting away from all that, I would take the Aspire One over any Eee PC sold to-date. The Aspire One just works better. It just looks better. It just feels better to use. I know this is a surprise considering I’ve spent half the comparison bashing the Aspire, but I want Acer to know just what they need to fix on it.

For most users, none of what I had to point out (aside from the trackpad defaults) will affect the typical user. And, my phone has Wi-Fi to sling the web… no Bluetooth required.

In all, look past the Acer name, and go get the Aspire One. Even at the new full retail price of $349, it’s the best netbook I’ve ever used, factoring in the price,

What probably surprised me the most, was the Aspire One’s utility. I actually find myself reaching for it, instead of my MacBook Pro when I go out. Most of the places I go day-to-day, that I would want a laptop anyways, are usually coffee shops, diners, or my car. Here, the Aspire One usually beats my MacBook Pro. I don’t have to tote around the utter width and weight of the MacBook Pro. This is often why I’ve rallied Apple for a 12-inch MacBook Pro.

Now, Apple might want to call in the MacBook Air into the discussion. I wouldn’t if I were them. I’m having trouble finding much benefit, and nothing that would justify the Air’s additional $1,250 cost. The Aspire One even beats the MacBook Air in the hard drive department, offering a 120 GB drive. With the Air, I only get an 80 GB.

As I finish this review (which has been written entirely on the Aspire One), it’s really simple; if you want a netbook, go with the Asprie One. There’s nothing better on the American market right now.

But, if you do want to have lunch at Moscone West during the show, drop me a line.