In Australia, XP Cheaper Than Linux On Eee 900

KrispyDollars writes "It sounds crazy to say this, but the XP-based version of the Eee PC 900 (the new version with the 8.9" screen) will actually be considerably cheaper than the Linux-based version. At the official launch today, the company told journalists that 'Microsoft has been a longstanding supporter of Asus' to explain the price discrepancy. And — get this — only the XP-based machine will be sold at mass-market retailers, while the Linux-based model will be consigned to computer stores."

Comments

As an early adopter of the Eee PC

[blind biker]

(the 701 model, to be clear), I have this to say to Asus: I understand what is your level of commitment to Xandros Linux on your computers, so I hope you will be happy of losing one of your customers. And perhaps some 10-20% of other potential customers, too.

The Eee PC was my first step out of the MS upgrade treadmill nightmare, and you want to pull me right back? Sorry, no can do.

Could this actually be good for linux?

[Bert64]

One of the most common reasons cited for not adopting Linux, is that people perceive things that don't cost anything as being worthless...

In this case, the Linux option is more expensive, and demonstrably superior (larger storage, boots quicker, comes with a much wider selection of applications). How many people will consider the extra $50 worth it for a significantly better package?

Also perhaps people might like to buy the cheaper windows version, and then "pirate" linux to get some of the additional features only usually available on the more expensive model?

Re:12 GB HDD Vs 20 GB HDD

[Poltras]

I sincerely wouldn't call VxWorks crappy... for instance, it's the only OS to have left the earth, which is something. For one who have worked with VxWorks, I can only say that it is so modular and low-level that the end result is as crappy as you want it to be, but not as VxWorks have made you crap it. You have to admit that Linksys crapped the Linux base version (without hacking) too ;)

Re:12 GB HDD Vs 20 GB HDD

[Sockatume]

You're right that storage isn't the reason for the higher price. Asus explained a while back that the whole reason that the Linux model has a bigger SSD, is because they saved money on the XP licence, and used that to upgrade the storage rather than dropping the price of the unit. I wouldn't be surprised if MS mandated that too - it would look bad for the price of Windows to be right there on the box as a $100 mark-up.