Just last week, we asked the question if the world needs yet another mobile operating system (Samsung’s Bada). Now it turns out Japan’s biggest cell phone carrier, NTT DoCoMo, apparently thinks the answer is yes. The telecom behemoth (55 million customers in Japan) today announced [press release in English] the development of a brand new “application platform for mobile phones”, which is planned to go global, too.

Chrome OS is a promising cloud-based operating system, but the big complaint most people have about it is that Chrome OS is entirely browser-based. New netbook OS Jolicloud is a lot like Chrome OS, but with the addition of killer desktop apps.

Before you even consider Jolicloud, you may want to look at their big list of compatible devices. It’s pretty huge, and I’d also suspect not complete. I’m actually testing it in a virtual machine and it’s working just fine, and it would probably work on a fair amount of other hardware.

Think you’d like to try it out? You can install it easily from Windows using a simple installer. Rather than wipe out your Windows installation, it simply carves out some partitioned space on your hard drive so you don’t have to worry about ditching Windows altogether just to try it out. Ready to give it a try? The installation is pretty straightforward, but if you want a little hand-holding, check out the gallery below.

Once your Jolicloud installation is complete, you’ll end up at the login screen.

Enter the username and password you created during installation, and when you log in, you’ll end up staring down the Jolicloud netbook launcher screen.

You’ll also be prompted to set up your Jolicloud account at this point, but unfortunately the specialized Jolicloud accounts—which is part of what makes Jolicloud so cool—requires an invitation code, so you’ll probably want to sign up for one ASAP. If and when you do sign up with a Jolicloud homebase, you’ll get access to the Jolicloud App Directory pictured below.

It’s from this directory you can install your favorite programs—from Skype and Dropbox to Boxee and Spotify in a single click. When you’re logged in to Jolicloud, you’ve also got access to your social stream:

…and a convenient update manager:

In short, Jolicloud is a very impressive looking netbook operating system. Sure it’s just a specialized interface running on top Ubuntu and powered by a lot of Mozilla Prism packages. The App Directory makes the operating system—as TechCrunch accurately put it—feel like an iPhonesque OS for netbooks. And unlike the current state of Chrome OS, the current alpha release of Jolicloud is actually pretty well supported.

It’s probably a little unfair to compare Jolicloud to Chrome OS, since they are ultimately very different in their approach, but they are both aiming for the same market—your netbooks. If you’ve given Jolicloud a try in the past or just want to weigh in on its looks from the screenshots, let’s hear your thoughts in the comments.

Here are the first images of the much awaited Google Chrome. Light and spartan, and it seems touch friendly. Enjoy.

It looks very similar to what everyone imagined. I’m glad we are moving into single-window, task-oriented environments.

Everything you need to know about Google here.

This one came out of nowhere. The official Chrome OS is now available for download from Google. It’s not the final version, but the 0.4.223 beta. It includes Gnome, OpenOffice 3.0 and the Flash Player 10 plug-in:

• GNOME 2.24 desktop environment
• Google Chrome 4.0.223 web browser
• Google Picasa 2.7 photo manager New!
• OpenOffice.org 3.0 office suite
• GIMP 2.6 image editor
• Flash Player 10.0 plugin

It requires any Intel (from the Pentium and up) or AMD processor (from the Duron and up), 256MB of RAM, and 1GB of hard drive. Support is included for “most modern graphics cards.” Go, download, and play with it. [Google]

Windows 7 is out today! Huzzah! But wait; if you’re still rocking Windows XP, you might want to think twice before upgrading. Here are some reasons to stick with an old OS.

1. Updating will be a huge pain

You do realize that you can’t just pop in the disc and install the OS, right? Coming from XP, you’re going to need to backup all of your data, format your hard drive, install a clean version of Windows 7, and then start from scratch, reinstalling all of your old programs—and that’s assuming Old Faithful even meets the system requirements. Sounds delightful!

2. Software investment

How many programs do you have installed? You’re going to have to reinstall all of them. Do you have all of your install discs handy? And I hope you haven’t lost any CD Keys! Do you still have all of your downloaded installer executables? Feel like finding them or redownloading them? Because that’s what you’re going to have to do. And as far as new programs go, you do realize that almost all new software is still compatible with XP, right?

3. Most of what you use your computer for doesn’t need an upgrade

What do you do on your computer? Surf the internet, maybe use some office programs? I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that Windows XP has been handling such duties just fine for you. So why upgrade? For shiny new aesthetics? For a fancier taskbar? For juggling 22 devices? You don’t need that.

4. It’s expensive

Do you have $120+ to burn? Because that’s how much upgrading will cost you unless you use the $30 college-kid discount. Why not put that money in savings or use it to pay off a credit-card bill, like a grown up?

5. You can wait for SP1

Every OS has bugs when it’s first released, and even if 7 isn’t the shitshow that Vista was, it’ll surely need some patching up once the masses get their hands on it. You won’t get any bonus points for being an early-adopter. Why not play it safe and, if you do decide to upgrade, hold out for Service Pack 1?

6. Microsoft will keep supporting XP for a while

Tons of people (including you) still use XP, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Because of that, Microsoft has no choice but to continue supporting it, releasing security patches and the like. You don’t need to upgrade in order to get such benefits.

7. You’ll buy a new computer eventually

You won’t have your current computer forever, especially if you bought it long enough ago to come pre-loaded with XP. Since installing a new OS is one of the most risky and frustrating things you can do with your computer, you might as well just hold out until you buy a new one. It’ll have Windows 7 pre-installed on a clean drive, allowing you to start from scratch.

If you’re running Vista, however, you should by all means upgrade. What are you, crazy? Upgrade!