The aim

We had to “build” a laptop from scratch.

We needed to install the software and the Operating system needed. We came across all sorts of problems.

Office Applications: What We Used

Overall we decided to use an online office application called Zoho

There were quite a few reasons for this the main one being that it is easy to set up and use.

This is good because the people can use it without much trouble

It meets all the requirements mentioned in the list and has extra applications also.

There is also a downloadable version Zoho that can be easily installed on the laptop.

Office Application: Problems We Encountered

We wanted to use an office system that could be used without connecting to the internet but the operating system that we were using didn’t work with the application that we tried to use.

The online application that we wanted to use didn’t like the e-mail address needed to register. This problem was fixed by using a home account.

Anti Virus: Specifications

The Anti Virus We Used Needed To Be Free Reliable Not Slow Down The Laptop Be Capable Of Running With Linux.

Anti Virus: Problems

There Was Only A Little Amount Of Problems During The Project.

We Downloaded The Wrong Version. Many Didn’t Do The Things We

Needed.

Anti Virus: Finished Product

AVG Free For Linux.

Tested And Working Fine.

AVG Free, Which Does All Asked Which Was Specified.

It Automatically Scans Every Week

Operating system

I was assigned the task of finding an operating system for the laptops, this proved difficult as we had conflicting views with different systems like windows, Linux.

But in the end it was the only solution so, we went back to the idea of Linux.

Operating System: The end result

In the end we had a Linux version known as Xubuntu.

I believe that it will be easy to install on many laptops as it is the express version of Ubuntu.

Criteria

The E-mail had to be simple, easy to use and all inclusive so I started by documenting a lot of possible candidates and carrying out some practical testing using these criteria shortlisted it and eventually shortlisted it to two possible candidates: Mozilla Thunderbird and Googlemail.

E-mail Overview

Anyone who has ever used Microsoft Outlook will find Thunderbird easy to use and I have accompanied a guide to make it easy for first timers.

Googlemail is very easy to use but customisation is limited and this will only operate online.

In the end I thought that it would be possible to gather them together by using a Googlemail account on Mozilla Thunderbird so letting the User choose their preference.

Calendar Criteria

The Calendar had to be easy to bring up, shareable with other people in a select group. Preferably it should be colourful, customisable, and simple.

After gathering a list of calendars and testing them. Most of them worked but in the end again I shortlisted them down to two candidates based on the fact that the two calendars both linked with their counterpart E-mail. These were: Google Calendar and Mozilla Lightning.

Calendar Overview

Google Calendar worked well with Google Mail and it also worked with Mozilla Thunderbird quite well if you combined it with Googlemail as it sends E-mails when ether a calendar date is due.

Lightning doesn’t do reminders but instead opens in Thunderbird so you can see it while you are checking your E-mails.

Conclusion

You can use these programs In any mix. All 4 can be put together depending on user opinion and preferences. You can make it Simple, Complex, Colourful, Customisable or just extra functional.

Browser & Internet: Problems

One problem was that there are so many deals which can be seen as good deals for internet providers.

Another problem we had was deciding the actual browser.

Browser: What we ended up with

We ended up using Firefox because we found it to be the best for speed and chance of virusas it has a built in anti virus scanner.

It is quickly and regularly updated.

Evaluation

Overall I think that our team worked well together and we got the work done well.

I think that we got the project finished quickly, even though that we had been delayed by other projects.

The End