[Back to contents] [Motivation] [Libretto 110CT] [Installation issues] [Windows 95] [OS/2 Warp 3.0] [Linux: RedHat 5.2 & Mandrake 6.0]  

Last update 13 June 2001

 

EPILOGUE

After some months of working and playing around with the Libretto, I have the following experiences:

  • Windows still is the easiest to run, most probably because Toshiba devised this toy around Windows. Things like detailed power saving options and screen brightness control are only available under Windows, not even under DOS. Most of my productivity is presently still obtained with Windows applications, but that may change in the future.
  • Installation of OS/2 Warp 3.0 led to much headaches. It did run well in the end, but it in my opinion it may be a bit outdated. I only use it to browse the Internet for OS/2 info and to play Mahjongg…. Warp 4 may be better but is very expensive compared to e.g. Linux, so that is no option for me.
  • Linux lacks easy tools to customize it to non-standard notebooks. KDE's tools don't work out properly in all cases. Kernel recompilation may be easy, however kernel + module compilation and installation takes altogether almost 2 hours. I still haven't been able to configure Linux (both Redhat 5.2 and Mandrake 6.0) to my needs and to those of the Libretto.
  • Although my Libretto with all its OS-es is much lighter than my old Digital with its 2 or 3 harddisks, the latter allowed faster switching. Just suspend to disk, plug in some other harddisk and restore from disk would do the trick fast and painless. Now I have to shutdown and restart completely if I want to change from e.g. Linux to OS/2. But on the other hand, file transfer is much easier.
  • Toshiba's port replicator is no handy solution. I never leave home without it. I think that built-in serial, parallel, video and PS/2 ports would have added less weight and dimension and would have been more appealing visually than the rather clumsy port replicator.
  • In practice, the extra-wide screen is no handicap. I can manage very well with it. In addition, the Windows driver offers an automatic scrolling option if the mouse pointer appears off-screen, much like X-Windows virtual screen resolutions.
  • I'm still looking for an infra-red trackball. Does anybody out there have a suggestion?

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