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HP To Sell PCs With Mandrake 9.1
theoddball writes "HP just announced a new PC model (HP Compaq d220) that's available preloaded with Windows or Mandrake 9.1. The machine appears to be targeted to business users, although it's on the lower-end of the scale - specs are here. Mandrake also has a press release announcing the deal, which will grow to include four other HP models. Is this a sign that top tier manufacturers are taking Linux more seriously, or at least seeing a profitable niche?" We commented on MandrakeSoft's status update yesterday.
I wonder how long it will take until HP releases iPaq's with linux already installed.
2.0 GHz is low end of the spectrum? I'm still running a 400MHz PII as my primary!
*weeps into hands*
Do not read this sig.
This is also good news that Large companies see Distros other than Red Hat to be of excellent quality. It have many times seen ignorant IT managers telling me how the only way to go with Linux is RedHat. (which is good, but not the only one) :)
Maybe now i can propose the use of my favorite distro and have "managerial" evidence to back it.
Slashdot Sig. version 0.1alpha. Use at your own risk.
Maybe other manufacturers and consumers will realize that linux is superior to windows in just about every way possible. It's taken long enough anyways, the average linux Desktop not only looks, performs and is more intuitive than windows' explorer.exe, but also has way more applications available from the start.
HP announced today an affordable, high-quality desktop PC for small and medium businesses (SMB): the HP Compaq Business Desktop d220 Microtower, which offers a choice for operating system between Windows or Mandrake Linux 9.1 (please read the press-release below).
r es
0 2a.html
It's the first time that an industry leader publicly announces the availability of Linux on a desktop PC.
This is the result of a worldwide agreement between MandrakeSoft and HP. The Mandrake Linux 9.1 operating system, while poor in comparison to Windows, is now available on a complete range of HP desktop PCs. This includes (or will include) the following machines: HP Compaq 220, HP Compaq 230, HP Compaq 325, HP Compaq D330 and HP Compaq D530.
Mandrake Linux 9.1 is recognized to be one of the less crash-prone and primitive of the Linux systems available today, and is a major step towards delivering Linux as a pretend office-desktop solution to small businesses.
More information about Mandrake Linux 9.1 is available at:
http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/91/mainfeatu
The Press-release from HP is available at:
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2003/0307
This news is about desktops
Previous HP linux computers were servers.
Hopefully this is just a case of the press releasing being issued a bit before the website is changed to handle the new systems fully.
I think what it comes down to is not wanting to lose out sales to someone else. If their competetors are making at least 1 sale with something, most companies will want to try and steal away that sale... almost at any cost!
Of course, it looks like they're not going to put a huge effort behind it until there is some momentum... but then do expect them market the hell out of it.
--D
Despite the fact that Linux is apparently not ready yet for "mum" (certainly because of a lack of third-party applications), it really seems there is a growing momentum for Linux on the desktop in the field of corporate environements. My guess is that StarOffice/OpenOffice.org are responsible for that, and also that Mandrake 9.1, with its great desktop environment, offers most things that corporations need for their daily tasks. This includes OpenOffice.org and Mozilla for instance.
Looking to find out what retailers would be selling this, I did follow their product link.
It's not listed yet, but that's no surprise.
This is probably the ONLY way that people are going to buy this for their homes; a side by side comparison of an MS machine and a (GNU/)Linux machine.
The retail setting is absoluetely imperative. Buying a preloaded sysem online is well and good, but most people will stick to the devil they know, (MS).
Now, people will have the whole "touchy, feely," experience.
If you try to buy a d220 microtower, there's no option available yet with Mandrake Linux. If they're going to do a press release, isn't it better to have the actual product first?
Signatures are supposed to be funny?
It's newsworthy because Mandrake only just recently climbed out of bankruptcy. The fact that a major computer manufacturer has decided to preload Mandrake on one of their business-line models as an alternative to Windows suggests that the company's future might be brighter than many expected.
Maybe it's news because Mandrake is seen as more of a desktop distro than RedHat (though it also forms a very capable server), and it shows that one of the biggest PC suppliers now thinks Linux is ready for the desktop.
It's also great news for Mandrake, and about time. Well done, Drakes.
I'm going to start a band of elite Linux Ninja to sneak in and just start intalling Linux on every computer.
Won't you be my Ninja?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Ack! That's unreadable. Take a few moments to put the br's in :)
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HP Delivers Affordable, Reliable Microtower PC to Small- and Medium-sized Businesses
PALO ALTO, CALIF., JULY 2, 2003
HP (NYSE:HPQ) today introduced an affordable, high-quality desktop PC for small- and medium-sized business (SMB) customers: the HP Compaq Business Desktop d220 Microtower.
The microtower desktop features Intel® Pentium® 4 or Celeron® processors and offers three PCI expansion slots, two double data rate (DDR) memory slots and five drive bays in a compact microtower platform, allowing for expansion or future upgrades.
"Our SMB customers are looking to maximize their IT investment, and the combination of low purchase price and consistent, reliable performance in the HP Compaq d220 provides value-seeking businesses a solid platform choice," said Keith LeFebvre, vice president of business desktop division, Americas, HP Personal Systems Group.
The HP Compaq Business Desktop d220 is designed to keep IT simple, with the choice of customizable or pre-configured solutions optimized for affordability and quality. Customized solutions, available beginning July 7, start at an estimated U.S. street price of $349 (1) with an Intel Celeron 2.0-gigahertz processor, 40-gigabyte hard drive and 128-megabyte DDR SDRAM. Customers also can opt for an Intel Pentium 4 2.4-gigahertz processor, 40-gigabyte hard drive and 128-megabyte DDR SDRAM for as low as an estimated U.S. street price of $499. (1)
For customers interested in pre-configured solutions with an Intel Celeron 2.0-gigahertz processor, pricing starts at an estimated $429. (1) Or, for customers requiring additional processing power, the HP Compaq d220 is available pre-configured with a 2.4-gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 processor, 40-gigabyte hard drive, 512-megabyte DDR SDRAM, integrated Intel Extreme Graphics, DVD+RW/CD-RW combo drive, six USB 2.0 ports and Microsoft Windows® XP Professional - priced at an estimated U.S. street price of only $799. (1)
HP Compaq desktops are available with the latest operating systems from the industry leader, Microsoft, as well as a robust Linux offering from Mandrake. The HP Compaq d220 offers a choice of Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows XP Home or Mandrake's Linux v9.1, providing customers with the versatility needed for today's mixed-use environments.
The HP Compaq Business Desktop d220 Microtower is now available directly from HP or through authorized resellers. More information about the product is available at http://www.hp.com/products/desktops
About HP
HP delivers vital technology for business and life. The company's solutions span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing for consumers, enterprises and small and medium business. For the last four quarters, HP revenue totaled $70.4 billion. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com
(1) Actual prices may vary.
Intel, Pentium and Celeron are U.S. registered trademarks of Intel Corp. Microsoft and Windows are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.
This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the possibility that the market for the sale of certain products and services may not develop as expected; that development and performance of these products and services may not proceed as planned; and other risks that are described from time to time in HP 's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to HP 's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended January 31, 2003, and subsequently filed reports. If any of these risks or uncertainties materializes or any of these assumptions proves incorrect, HP 's results could differ materially from HP 's expectations in these statements. HP assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
From the Specifications provided:
operating systems included: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional; Microsoft® Windows® XP Home or Mandrake Linux 9.1.
Interestingly enough, there is no mention whatsoever about the difference in price depending upon the OS. If I were someone who hasn't heard of Mandrake Linux, why would I bother selecting it if I am getting a MS OS (something that I am much more familiar with) for the same price? Where is the incentive for me to buy a system with Mandrake installed on it?
From a business perspective IMO, paying for something unkown would be a no-no. One might consider taking a RISK if one buys something unfamiliar at a lower price with some extra incentives thrown in. Include Mandrake's documentation in HARD COPY; free training courses for employees, etc???
Just as I was getting worried that Carly was turning the New HP into a pure MS vehicle (all this stuff about 64 bit Windows being Itanium's "killer app"). I was starting to think they'd ditch HP-UX any day now (as they will with PA-RISC, now that they're pushing Itanium). So it's a shock to see them putting Mandrake on a PC OEM style (and a business targeted PC too!). I hope they have stellar success with this. If this succeeds I hope they offer other distros like Red Hat, United Linux, and even something like Lindows on a consumer model, all OEM loaded. Compaq had started to offer Dell-style customization of PC's ordered over the web before the *cough*takeover*cough merger. I wonder if HP still does that? That'd be the perfect place to offer even more choice.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Emphasis mine. Isn't HP like in the top 3 PC sellers in the USA? And HP puts out a press release to businesses that pretty much makes it seem like OS's other than Windows in businesses are becoming pretty damn common.
I tell most my friends around me not to buy MS stock. Because once they lose their enormous marketshare, like dominos they'll lose their monopoly. HP just reinforced my belief that I'll get to see this happen within 5 years, easy.
Good luck to multiple OS's on computers! Go Apple! Go beOS!
Linux is run by demons! Who cares about Napster, SCO, IBM, pirated mp3s and source code when there are demons in your computer!
I always knew that HP=Hell People. Now at last I have proof that they are putting demons in their computers!
You should spend less time worrying about HP and more time fighting the demons!
This is a great move for promoting linux. Hopefully it'll lead to OS choice where it really matters: laptops. Nobody should have to pay the windows tax ever again! Even better, be able to buy laptop computers without an OS installed and let the consumer get the ultimate choice.
Seems like this little insignifcant OS is making inroads despite what Bill thinks. Once products like OpenOffice become more mature the game is over and real desktop penetration, coporate side at least, will happen.
Yes, it will, and eventually there is a real chance that linux will supplant Windows as the OS of choice for business...BUT... by the time that happens, MS will most likely have tied a great deal of digital rights restrictions technology into windows.
The upshot? One day, most 'new' media will only be playable on windows, and hence MS will control the consumer market.
It may be that this is exactly what they are planning for. They may have recognized that they're slowly losing corporate mindshare, and are now grasping at straws in that arena. Look at the suspicious influx of money that they gave to SCO, look at their new corporate licensing policies (subscription model) - are these desperation moves?
Of course, this is all just opinion and conjecture. Don't mind me.
Ummm I think the dying variety of BSD is run by demons... Linux must be run by penguins.
Also IBM=Inverted Bowel Movement.
Thanks!
My Ass hurts.
I think the article said that the Linux offer will be on HP's website Monday.
HP has already been selling Compaq desktops with Linux since Oct 2002.
How do you expect them to make profits if they just keep giving their product away? Are you just going to label every distro that gets business-oriented a sell-out?
Either you want Linux to go bigtime and you deal with taking a back seat to the big boys, or you can have your little community of free support which will always be seen as too technical for the masses. Take your pick. You can't have both.
might be interesting to see what repercussions this has for Mandrake being recognized as a business Linux solution. Last I heard, Mandrake was just coming out of chapter 11. Was this the boost they need? Ximian says that as soon as your organization has 1000+ machines running some other flavor of Linux (besides SuSE and RedHat), they would consider an XD2 release for that distro. Well, HP's decision could move Ximian in that direction.
Then Microsoft puts its foot down and it's replaced with XP.
No major vendor seems keen to only sell Linux desktop boxes, so the Linux option won't happen until competition law smacks Microsoft on the hand.
It's only if and when Linux takes the lead over Windows on the desktop that you will see vendors confident to ditch Microsoft.
Competition is being offered a choice, Microsoft can cry all they like about recent governments coming up with Open Source legislation that only stipulates the use of Open Source, it's them who started all this silly anti-competitive rubbish and vendor lock-in in the first place.
Dell Flirted with Linux desktop machines and promptly withdrew them. Microsoft needs to stop bullying the OEMs.
Now that you mention it, I wonder. How do we know HP is not paying the Microsoft tax anyway on those Mandrake PCs? The press release says nothing about price differences.
Yes, I hope so too. But first of all I want to see them sell Linux preinstalled notebooks. It would be a winner situation for HP, to sell a full line of Linux-preinstalled hardware: servers, desktops, notebooks and handhelds. RedHat, Mandrake and SuSE are all excellent candidates ...
Linux (OK, GNU/Linux) has been ready for the desktop for a long time. The question, though, is which distro? Which window manager? When running a business, this stuff matters far more than license fees, within reasonable limits. When you think about how technically inferior Windows 3.1 was compared to OS/2 and the Mac, let alone the *nix's back then, it would seem to be a wonder that it got anywhere at all. But, considering how cheap it was and the fact that it did its basic job well enough on a huge permutation of PC hardware, its success becomes easier to understand.
Technical superiority has never been the primary determinant of market success, at least in the commercial world.
Now we have you and others comparing Mandrake to RH and <name favorite disto> already, and I sense the same pattern of the OS battles in the early 90s. Sooner or later, /. will become a spectacular arena in which to watch the distro battle/FUD flingfest. How this will resolve itself, I have no idea. But it sure will be interesting to see which Linux distro prevails, and to what extent.
Imagine how much harder physics would be if electrons had feelings! -Feynman, maybe
In Australia HP/Compaq PCs have been available with Mandrake for several months now, not just on low end machines, but also the D510 & D530 mainstream corporate machines.
And NO, you do not pay the MS tax, they are cheaper (by approx $150 AU) than the equivalent Windows box
I didn't know Mandrake Linux had a paperclip! How do I activate it? ;-)
I remember reading (on slashdot?) about a partnership between HP and Debian. Something about Debian being the dist of choice for HP. Does anyone have any info about this? Was it a cruel cruel dream?
If you just want to play with Linux, Mandrake should be your only choice.
If you need to test or develop on Linux, Mandrake will have you up and running in less than an hour.
If you need a SERIOUS Linux box, Mandrake can be customized to suit aswell, but here it has few advantages over other distributions time wise. Although you get to work in reverse to say Debian.
I personally can not recommend it over say Suse or Debian for a life-or-death server, but for everyone else, it's just plain awesome. Give it time and Mandrake will give us a brilliant server installation as well.
Simply put, Mandrake ROX, and all the best to them.
--- guns don't kill people, people with guns kill people ---
This seems to be the most controversial argument when people talking about linux taking over the desktop.
I predict that linux will come become a mainstream OS in the same way that windiows did. People will use it at work first (corporations will implement it beacuse it is cheaper and has the advantages of being open source), then it will trickle on to people's desktops at home. To think that it will happen any other way seems a bit naive considering how much M$ can afford to spend on making sure home desktops stay windows. In fact I think that we may see both OS's co existing, could be worng tho.
I clicked on the link, and like many other posters, I found out that it's not available yet.
;0
No big deal, it might take a while to update the site.
But did anybody else notice the almost $100 price difference on the same EXACT machine, but preloaded with Windows XP?
Is this really what you save buying a machine minus the MS Tax?
If so, I say to you Mr. Paperclip! You go to Hell! You go to Hell and you die!
I dont really follow HP hardware in my line of work, but hey ... Brand name PC, with warranty and Helldesk support for a product that isnt MS.
It sounds like a good thing to me, it can only increase competition, and that has to be a good thing.. right?
Sides, this looks to me like its aimed squarely at Joe Average home user , not the Uber Geeks that speend weeks on end compiling Gentoo for the fun of it.
People should be saying *Yay for Linux*, not "Boo this isnt news worthy"
Your kidding, right?
I installed Mandrake 9.0, and I think I had to reboot it once. Longest part was the actual copying of data. Once it started up and booted into KDE, like magic my sound, video, network, modem, etc. just worked. Just about every program I need already installed and ready to go. Just add Opera and Seti@Home. Time spent 60 minutes max.
Windows 2000: Install it. Takes like 45-60 minutes. And I am presented with a 640x480 screen with 16 colors, no sound, no network. Couple of hours later, countless reboots. Drivers in. Now Windows update. Many 100's of MB later, and dozens of reboots later, that's done. Now install programs. Several hours later that's done. Also throw in a couple of hours to install video codecs, and getting all the different ones to work with each other without conflict and crashes (UGH!) Time spent: 1 day atleast.
Linux is lightyears ahead of Windows in the install the OS department. I will admit though, installing programs in Windows is easy, so easy that they install all by themselves at times! (heh). Installing software in Linux is tedious and confusing at times.
What I find most amazing is Knoppix. Throw a CD in the drive, reboot the computer, and in 5 minutes I'm sitting in front of a fully functional Linux desktop with all my sound/video/network all working, OpenOffice, Mozilla, and countless applications already installed and ready to go - and it's all running off the CD and ramdisk! Utterly amazing.
I haven't installed 9.1, but with 9 if you choose workstation install, I don't think it installs any servers and if you do server install I don't think it installs a lot of the graphical stuff.
And the advanced install warns you about what servers you installed and gives you the option to turn them off.
The Anti-Blog
You mean this Bill Gates ?
for the last time people, I am "frodo from middle eaRTH", not "middle eaST".
OK, I haven't used mdk since 8.1, and I'm perfectly happy with Slackware's text-based installer...
But in installed XP on a friend's computer the other day, and it is not always a piece of cake. Given the "closed" nature of the installer, you are fucked if it just doesn't happen to like your hardware, and I'm talking brand-name stuff here, not the no-name crud. But an installer that formats a HDD for you, goes through a few more steps and then decides the drive is no good any more does not qualify as a good one. Especially if when it tries to load the appropriate drivers from CD-ROM it suddenly decides that the drive doesn't exist. I had thought MS would have fixed that bug in win98, but apparently not.
By comparison, my past experience with mdk's installer was that it was very simple and intuitive, and I rather doubt if it has got worse since then.
There's also the bonus that you don't have to keep putting in driver CDs for every single piece of hardware and re-boot every time; unless your hardware is outlandish, it's usually supported out of the box.
Voddy goes up in flames
the horror, oh the horror.
Liberty.
He was talking about iPaq, the Pocket PC PDA, not the Compaq desktop. It is definitely not old stuff, because HP never even announced to ship a Pocket PC with Linux pre-installed.
It's not just the Linux people. The Windows support people around here have similar troubles. They don't even like Linux. Building a Windows machine from scratch, installing all the drivers, loading the "company apps"; that can all take the better part of a day for these guys. I don't know much about Windows but they don't look like they're stuffing around or being lazy. It simply looks like a lot of hard work. Of course, they then use imaging software (Ghost?) to quickly make other machines using the same hardware.
However the real reason I replied was to warn you about your current method of reinstallation. It's a disaster waiting to happen. Especially as you're also loading the "company apps" by hand. You are better off automating the build process; even Win2k can do this. Lower risk of mistakes, less work involved, doesn't require expertise or knowledge for each build, self-documenting and repeatable process, etc. Imagine a programmer who retyped compilation commands instead of using makefiles. It's not a good idea.
Would you be able to learn Linux in the time you could save by not hanging around Slashdot?</joke>
If you check the prices, you will see that they come with no tax:
HP-Compaq D220 with MS-WindowsXP: $429
HP-Compaq D220 with Mandrake 9.1: $349
For MDK 9.1: "Customized solutions, available beginning July 7, start at an estimated U.S. street price of $349"
See price for MS-W-XP: "starting at: $429.00*"
My question is: when will they be available in Europe? Peace!
For a clerk in a cube, that's still more machine than they need. Hardware has far outstripped common business needs, and I'm expecting that in two years, the machines I'm purchasing for the office will be better than that for less than $300.
Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
Windows 2000: Install it. Takes like 45-60 minutes. And I am presented with a 640x480 screen with 16 colors, no sound, no network. Couple of hours later, countless reboots. Drivers in. Now Windows update. Many 100's of MB later, and dozens of reboots later, that's done.
Ok, reboots are one thing, but just FYI, on my last install of Mandrake 9.1 several days ago I was presented with nearly 300MB of updates and bug fixes after install. This is on a release only a couple months old, mind you - Win2000 has several years worth of updates built up. This is not a selling point for Linux.
I also have a Red Hat demo account (installed RH on another machine) and hardly a day goes by that I don't get some sort of "errata" report from them in my inbox.
Now that they're using Mandrake Unix,
It's LINUX
The only thing that worries me is that I heard Mandrake was a French company, and therefore there might be some issues with importing a french operating system into the U.S., given the impending embargo. Also, the French government is pretty strict about their language and culture, so that could be a big problem. I don't think many American Unix users are going to like having to double click on "Mes Documents" to get to their files!
Try it before you slam it
I came over from a windows enviroment using 3 CDs that a friend gave me. Over the last two years Windows was used less and less Mandrake was used more and more when my PDA was able to sync up under Linux I had no more use for windows. Although I am not a power user niether is the mainstream user .
Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie" until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
Does someone know wether this also means that HP will start to sell laptops without the mandatory M$ fee?
Since M$ forced Dell to stop shipping laptops without Windows it's been practically impossible to buy a quality laptop without the M$ fee. Even IBM, with all it's pro-linux steps it has taken recently, ain't selling a laptop without Windows.
And does someone know wether it's the manufacturers that are in league with M$ or the retailers or perhaps both?
1 Earth is warming, 2 It's us, 3 it's royally bad, 4 we need to take action NOW
Linux is lightyears ahead of Windows in the install the OS department. I will admit though, installing programs in Windows is easy, so easy that they install all by themselves at times! (heh). Installing software in Linux is tedious and confusing at times
I've recently upgraded to Mandrake 9.1 and installing any of the ( hundreds ) of applications on the DVD is a piece of cake using the Mandrake URPMI system. Most of the applications any average user could possibly want are on the DVD so it generaly Linux installation hassles shouldn't effect most basic users.
I do think Linux needs more support from major applications, the likes of Autoroute and other stuff your Mum and Dad use the PC for but this is a gradual thing and HP selling Linux PC's is a definate step toward major vendors considering Linux support.
I just installed Mandrake 9.1 on a home built machine with an AMD CPU and nforce2 chipset and everything worked great out of the box. My Epson Scanner and Canon printer, my PDA and my digital camera all worked. I went to Nvidia's site to download the latest nforce drivers for Linux and installed them w/o any issues. Mandrakes new software update utility is the best. As good as or better than apt-get.
since I'm not personally a big fan of mdk
;-)
How could you not be a fan of MDK?!?
That game was awesome. The parachute and sniper mode were way useful, head shots counted, and your dog would fly in on a bombing run for you.
Now granted it was never networkable, but it was still a great game