Tim's Tech Tips ... JoliCloud: Make Your Old PC Run Like a New One!

Maybe it’s because I run my own small business, but I’m always looking for new tech tools and gadgets that can help me gain more business or be more efficient … ideally without actually having to spend money. With all the innovation going on out there, I often come across great products, free or nearly so, that can do the same things as products that might cost a bundle. Periodically I’ll tell you about a new product in "Tech Tips" that I’ve fallen in love with, I use myself, and that you just might want to try. Case in point: Jolicloud.

Around our house we have two or three ancient computers (five or more years) that were pretty much headed for the dump. My wife’s old desktop took forever to start and was slow, slow, slow; and my daughter wanted the old laptop for surfing the Internet and games (groan). So I was looking at buying new computers until I found Jolicloud.

If you answer “Yes” to any of the following questions, you might want to try Jolicloud on your PC:

• Is your computer slow as molasses or more than four years old?
• Does Windows take forever to start up and shut down?
• Have you ever gotten a virus?
• Would you like your computer to run as fast as a brand new one?
• Would you like to avoid buying a new PC and would you like all this for free?

So what is Jolicloud? Without getting “techy," it’s a different operating system than Windows for your PC that you can download and run entirely for free at www.jolicloud.com. When you start up your computer it asks you if you want to use Windows or Jolicloud. You can choose either one but if you pick Joli, you’re up and running in about eight to 10 seconds and can shut down instantly. And as for speed, get ready for almost fresh-out-of-the-box PC performance even if your PC is nowhere near new. And generally speaking you won’t be worrying about viruses, at least not like with Windows.

So how does it do it? Okay, here’s the semi-techy part. Jolicloud is a version of the Linux open source operating system (which means it’s free). It’s “lean and mean,” which means it takes up minimal disk space and lacks all the overhead programming that can make Windows so painfully slow, especially when you don’t have that much memory or an older processor.

What’s the downside? Some of your Windows applications may not run under Linux, like Microsoft Office. Fortunately, however, Jolicloud provides you with many Linux programs that are suitable replacements, like Open Office instead of Microsoft Office, and most are free. All your files, photos, and documents, however, are still right there. And what if you don’t like Jolicloud? Hard to imagine that might happen, but you can uninstall it at any time just like any Windows program.

Actually I’m doing the Jolicloud folks a real disservice here because all of this is just the tip of the iceberg. Jolicloud is also designed to help you easily manage all your “cloud” data and applications as well – simply and easily. But hey, you can learn all about that on their website. For me, I’m just happy to have fast computers again!

– Tim

Tim McMahon is a Career and Small Business Coach located in Merrimack. For more information: www.timmcmahon.us