Joli OS was an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution created by Tariq Krim and Romain Huet co-founders of the French company Jolicloud (also the name of the operating system until version 1.2).

After purchasing a few netbooks and renewing their acquaintance with Linux, they rented office space in the Montorgueil area of Paris and were later joined by another developer, Tristan Groléat.

[11] The operating system supports all the major netbooks, including models from Asus, Acer, Dell, HP, MSI, Samsung and Sony.

[12] Jolicloud claims the OS supports 98% of netbooks with out-of-the-box compatibility[13] but also works on a very large number of other devices, up to 10 years old: laptops, desktops and tablets.

[17] Reviewers evaluating Joli OS differed in their appraisals, depending on whether they were writing for a user who is new to Linux or is more experienced with the operating system.

He compared Joli OS in look and function to iOS, the operating system used by the Apple iPad (as well as the iPhone and iPod Touch), though with the folders and files of a conventional computer".

Yegulalp reported problems launching some applications, including the Google Chrome browser and the VLC media player, an inability to do peer-to-peer mesh networking, the power button getting blocked by open windows, and no hibernation mode, even if the computer supports it.

[19] But ZDNet reporter David Meyer disagreed with that performance assessment after running Jolicloud on a Nokia Booklet 3G in order to take advantage of that device's unusual 720p screen resolution.

[20] In Ars Technica, Ryan Paul wrote that "there are a lot of good ideas on display in Jolicloud [now Joli OS] 1.0, but the nascent product still feels incomplete".