Ubuntu Quietly Taking On Microsoft Continuum With 'Convergence' And BQ Aquaris Tablet

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delaro

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2GB of RAM isn't going to cut it when multitasking, 1 Browser steaming anything is going to take half of that alone and the OS will use a majority of the rest. RAM is dirt cheap why skimp? You need at least 4gb in any device that claims to multitask.
 

sykozis

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Actually, Ubuntu Touch can "multi-task" just fine on 2GB of ram. Linux is nothing like Windows when it comes to memory usage. In fact, Windows Phone can "multi-task" just fine on 512MB of ram. Android is the only mobile OS that requires large pools of ram for "multi-tasking". Of course, proper "multi-tasking" doesn't occur on a mobile device anyway.

Btw...I remember multi-tasking on 8MB of ram.....and I run Ubuntu Touch on a Nexus 4.....
 

Bloob

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Pretty sure Ubuntu multi-tasks just fine, much like SailfishOS the apps stays open and execute on the CPU when it is their turn. It's the other platforms where "multi-tasking" means fast switching between tombstoned apps.
 

delaro

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Okay then.. Chrome or FireFox Running.

1 Tab Youtube
1 Tab Email
1 Tab Facebook
1 Tab a Forum or a SMS program

or

1 High Res Game
1 Tab Youtube or Online Streaming Music Player
1 Tab Voice Chat Program
Blown up on a monitor.

or

1 Tab Streaming Music
1 Tab Browser Game
1 Tab Facebook
1 Tab Skype

It doesn't matter the OS 2 GB of RAM is weak for someone that really Multi Tasks unless your using really low usage Programs. The purpose of blowing your screen up on a Monitor or TV is to do more than 2 tab Email/Facebook. I do use Ubuntu and Windows so I have a clue on how fast ram goes.

RAM Chips are stupidly cheap right now, the cost for a manufacture to go from 2gb to 4gb is less than $3 when your buying in bulk like they do, there is no reason why anything that costs $200 or more should have less than 4gb of RAM right now even if it is a overkill for most users.

 

arenaslicer

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Just saying...I would love to be able to replace Android with a fully working phone version of Ubuntu.
Fully working is probably too optimistic though huh?
 

wussupi83

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To help assist with the RAM concern - I run a desktop with 16GB of RAM, a laptop with 4GB and an older netbook with 2GB all on Linux. I never go over 2GB 90% of the time working on websites which includes some photo editing and usually a YouTube video and multiple tabs. I'm not saying you cant - It's not going to replace your gaming rig or VM Host or graphics workstation but it can easily replace your tablet, phone and office laptop. Not saying they can't bloat this up - my DROID is almost always over 2GB but my phones not rooted so Verizon and Samsung crap are probably at fault. Some people argue free RAM is wasted RAM though.
 

ZolaIII

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As the SoC is actually most similar to the MT6735 with quad cluster A53 @ 1.5GHz & T720 MP 2 at 600 MHz i am skeptical about performance in running full blown Ubuntu desktop distro even performance requirements for Linux are lot lesser than for Windows. On the other hand 2GB of RAM simply can't do well enough this day's for anything serious.
With adequate SoC & at least 4GB RAM this would be lovely.
 

wussupi83

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As the SoC is actually most similar to the MT6735 with quad cluster A53 @ 1.5GHz & T720 MP 2 at 600 MHz i am skeptical about performance in running full blown Ubuntu desktop distro even performance requirements for Linux are lot lesser than for Windows. On the other hand 2GB of RAM simply can't do well enough this day's for anything serious.
With adequate SoC & at least 4GB RAM this would be lovely.

If you look at Intel vs ARM benchmarks here (http://www.computingcompendium.com/p/arm-vs-intel-benchmarks.html) you'll see the MT6589 A7 based processor listed in the benchmark outperforms an Intel Atom D525. The MT6589 is A7 based and a slower processor than the MT6735 in this phone. If you look at this benchmark list for Passmark (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Atom+D525+%40+1.80GHz) you'll see the Atom D525 performs as well as some early Core Duo and low frequency Core 2 Duo's. I personally run Linux Mint on an even older and only single core Intel Atom N455 which performs much worse than the D525 and I can tell you it runs suprisingly well. This tablet's hardware, even though its not even the best of the best, is quite adequate for a normal productivity/Netflix PC. That's a bigger feat than anyone has done before and once they start throwing better processors in it as you stated, and then put it in a phone. It becomes a promising prospect.

edit: corrected phone to tablet. Corrected Atom processor. Added use case.
 

ZolaIII

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@ wussupi83 wouldn't say so. There are a couple of things to reconsider in what you post.
Firstly Geakbench is a joke when it comes to x86 as it uses only elementary SIMD optimizations so actual performance will be different.
Secondary as you use GGC to compile kernel only machines you will be able to use are x86 & if you compile on actual machine you will use you can use mach=native argument for optimizations so it will give some additional bust to it.
Well A53's at 1.5GHz culd actually be marginally just enough to provide a nice Ubuntu experience. Still we all want to see this on better SoC & one that is actually supported by open stack not a MTK bullshit with pore supported ARM MALI.
 

sykozis

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Ubuntu and Ubuntu Touch are not the same OS, even though they share a "core". Ubuntu Touch is actually designed to run on mobile devices with limited memory pools.

Mobile devices are not capable of true multi-tasking. Most tasks are "stalled" when their associated apps don't have focus to reduce processor load and minimize impact on battery life. If this didn't happen, we'd only be seeing 4-6 hours of battery life for the majority of phones on the market.
 

10basetom

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One of the most annoying things about Android (and iOS?) is when you switch back to a previous Chrome tab and the web page reloads, causing you to lose your place -- or worse, losing any data you've entered in a form.
 
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