Review and Demo of the Raspbian Operating System on the Raspberry Pi Zero W

This is a review of the Raspbian operating system with PIXEL windows running on a Raspberry Pi Zero W computer. I demonstrate some basic features and show some applications that run well on the Pi Zero, and some others where the CPU comes up short. To see Part 1, Getting Started with the Raspberry Pi Zero W Computer, go to https://youtu.be/wczPGqTO8JY The Linux terminal window runs fast. I didn't notice any slowdown running ordinary UNIX commands. I didn't try any computation-intensive things like running a compiler. The Chromium web browser (similar to Chrome) runs fast for simple web pages. However, it slows down quite a bit for complex rendering tasks. For example, loading the Yahoo main page takes forever, with all the images, JavaScript ads and so on. YouTube runs terribly slow, with much pausing and skipping. The CPU is underpowered for these kinds of web pages. If you need this power, try the Raspberry Pi 3 instead, which has a quad-core processor. Raspbian comes pre-loaded with programming languages like Java, Python, and Scratch. Whatever is doesn't have, you can easily download and install. It also comes with LibreOffice, a free open-source suite of tools similar to Microsoft Office, including database, spreadsheet, drawing, presentation, and word processing tools that resemble Access, Excel, Visio, PowerPoint, and Word. I tried the spreadsheet program and it worked well. I didn't notice any slowdown when I loaded a fairly complex Excel file. To access the Raspberry Pi remotely using VNC, install the RealVNC application both on the Pi and on your main computer. You can access the Pi over your network using the local ID (for example 192.168.1.79:1). To access your Pi from anywhere over the Internet, create a free account with RealVNC, then log in to that account from both computers. RealVNC says that the data is encrypted at both ends for security. I ran into a few problems while setting up my Raspberry Pi Zero W for the first time: 1. I got a MICRO instead of a MINI HDMI adaptor for the monitor/TV interface. Be sure to get the MINI adaptor. You can get the accessories you need from the seller of the Pi (CanaKit in Canada for U.S. customers), or you can get them from Amazon. 2. I had problem with my SD card which required me to reformat it. I tried following the instructions from raspberrypi.org, using my Windows PC, but it didn't work, even after several tries. The green LED did not light up at all. Finally I found a forum post that suggested formatting the card in a digital camera. I tried that and it worked! 3. The mouse pointer had a huge time lag. Again, I found the solution in a forum. You edit the file /boot/cmdline and add the text usbhid.mousepoll=0 to the end of the existing line of text. 4. When using VNC, the cursor would appear as an "X" instead of an arrow. To fix it, open a Linux window and type "lxappearance". Have fun with your Raspberry Pi Zero W!