The new version of the Ubuntu Linux operating system for mobile Internet devices and mini-notebooks will be demonstrated for the first time this week.
Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, said on Monday that it plans to demonstrate the new version, called Ubuntu Netbook Remix, at the Computex trade show in Taiwan this week.
Smaller devices based on Intel's Atom processor are all the rage with PC makers lately. Manufacturers such as Acer and others are planning devices.
The Ubuntu release, expected later this year, will be based on the standard Ubuntu Desktop Edition and reworked for Atom-based mobile devices, Canonical said.
The company said it is working with "a number" of original equipment manufacturers, but did not identify those companies.
Canonical Chief Executive Mark Shuttleworth first mentioned Netbook Remix in an interview with the Guardian newspaper last month, adding that it is working with Intel on the system.
Ubuntu has been working on a mobile version of its operating system for months. In an April interview about the release of the new Hardy Heron version of Ubuntu, Shuttleworth said the mobile version is sufficiently important that developing it is worth pushing back the company's move to profitability. The company has engineers working on-site at Intel, he added.
Ubuntu still has plenty of buzz, a remarkable feat given how many new versions of Linux have fallen by the wayside over the years. However, it's not all smooth sailing: the Ubuntu Live conference that had been scheduled for July has been canceled, though some content from the show is moving to the Open Source Convention.
