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Asus Set To Release Desktop Eee PC Variant
the_leander writes "The Register has pictures of the desktop version of Asus's Eee PC, reportedly called the 'Ebox.' It will be released early next month after it has been unveiled publicly at Computex in Taipei on June 3. It'll come equipped with the same Xandros Linux distribution as the Eee, though it's likely that Windows XP will be available also. But given the probable choice for CPU, Atom, ithe Ebox is unlikely to allow for the use of Vista, unless you're something of a masochist. It's expected to retail for $200-$300."
I like the looks of it, but where is the floppy drive?
Is it just me, or does it seem somewhat odd to make a low budget PC quite so flash and stylish? Surely, if you're trying to get sales by having THE cheapest machine on the market, then perhaps people might not care how it looks so much as how much it costs?
I would have thought you could shave at least $50 off the price if you built it in a really boring, plain case, without silly stands or LED buttons...
I like :)
I really do.... I feel the karma drain
There is a distro called ebox.
http://ebox-platform.com/
That's what I thought when I saw it. Sweet deal.
"Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
It's like a portable desktop...
Seriously, if it is slim and small enough I can clearly think of several nice uses. It's a perfect living room pc, a kitchen computer ( I dont want my mom to get my laptop dirty when browsing recipes ), a car pc (someone would definitely do this), what else.. ohhh.. and a beowulf cluster, imagine a server rack of these..
You can get a year old regular desktop for the same price and run an operating system of your choice, including Vista with Aero or hacked MacOSX. EeePC laptop has certain features unique over current or slightly older regular notebooks - weight, battery life, flash drive. I don't see how any of this matters in a desktop.
People buy desktops for connecting to backend office infrastructure, and sad to say, the Windows-Office lockin still rules in this space. Skype and other stuff like Image manipulation might make sense in the Home Linux market, but there are already plenty cheap hardware out there that can run Linux for under $200. The gBox for one.
So Asus will find it very hard to push these desktops unless they race to the bottom. Which might rule out Windows XP as well.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
I have no idea if this is real or fabricated... I guess it's real, it's from a chinese review of the MSI Wind, wich is also equipped with an Intel Atom:
http://forums.msiwind.net/download/file.php?id=3
It's running Windows Vista, but I have no idea how well it performs. Anybody know of an english review that tried to run Vista on an Atom? Or can read this article?
Source (chinese): http://article.pchome.net/content-630588-1.html
It would be great if they put PC inside medium - sized keyboard (desktop keyboard minus numeric part). Everywhere I go, there is TV or Monitor with DVI/HDMI, and what I would like to have is cheap $200 Amiga 500-like (but slim) computer with flash HDD, no DVD, Atom CPU with passive cooling. I know there is one company creating expensive over-sized PC-inside-keyboard computers, with DVD and everything, but thats not it.
...It'll come in windows and linux flavours, but the linux one will have half the ram and hdd capacity as the windows version and cost a twice as much due to 'lesser availability'.
Actually MSI is making the linux version of its 'Wind' notebook with 50% less RAM, 50% less battery and taking away bluetooth!
Needless to say, many are miffed that they would have an unwanted software charge attached just to get the more capable hardware!
Wouldn't it be better for Asus to release low cost motherboard designed for Small Form Factor case like the Mac Mini. The motherboard would then have slots for DDR2 memory. Then come out with new SSD hard drive that can fit into a slot specially designed for the Asus motherboard and replaceable when it goes bad in 2-4 years.
In other note, the style of the case is beautiful. It would be nice if it would have Fast Wifi/Ethernet and HDMI/Composite Video out. Then use VideoLAN to stream video from desktop to Ebox.
\
It has 2 GB of ram. Wwhat are you using, ubuntu Zippy Zebra?
Before I go into monologue mode, it looks like Dell already has something in the ultra slim ultra cheap arena. Dell EPP Inspiron 530S starts under $400, ok not as cheap as the Asus solution, but still.
I do see a need for an Asus EEE laptop. Something ultra cheap that you can kick around, get some work done on it, but not be too worried if it gets lost or stolen. I see slightly less of a need for an Asus EEE desktop. The market is pretty flooded with desktops, so much so that getting something in the Socket A to 939 class for $200-$300 on closeout is very possible. While duel core is all the rage, the last time I checked new egg a 4000+ single core 939 was well under $50, and that is nothing to sneeze at. A 2000mhz socket A system does the job for most people IMHO.
So the real question is this... do I want a trimmed down might as well be a laptop desktop, or do I want an older machine that might out perform it. There are no facts or specs to backup this assertion, it's just been my experience that new ultra cheap has often been outclassed by 3 year old goods.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
It's a white plastic box on a stalk. The desktop stand is the first thing to go into the trash. What's stylish about it?
...It'll come in windows and linux flavours, but the linux one will have half the ram and hdd capacity as the windows version and cost a twice as much due to 'lesser availability'.
Actually, for the announced configurations, the Eee 900 with Linux will have 20G flash (instead of 12G) and be slightly more expensive as a result. A fair tradeoff.
For the HP 2133, the Linux versions are consistently cheaper than the equivalent Windows versions.
So, direct your anger elsewhere. These mini laptops have been good for Linux.
Ohhh, did the nasty reviewer man disrespect poor widdle Microsoft?
Seriously, what's with this petulant Crokeresque "Leave Vista Alooonnnee" meme over the past few months?
I mean, give me a break. This is the company the _invented_ FUD. For years we've been hearing "Linux is hard to install", "Linux has poor hardware support", "Command line everything" "No games", etc, etc, etc.
Now it's your turn and you're whining like whipped bitches. Well suck it up. There's plenty more to come.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
A Mac Mini is not that much more in price, and is virtually immune to browser exploits and attacks from remote.
You must have missed the memo, but Microsoft does not want you to be able to buy XP anymore. Everyone is supposed to move to Vista. So it is *most definitely* newsworthy if manufacturers are introducing *new products* a year and a half (!!) after Vista has been released to the public, *and they explicitly do not support the newest Microsoft OS at all*, although they do support the previous version - even though you're not even supposed to be able to buy that version anymore, at least not without jumping through all kinds of hoops. Hello? I consider this to be extremely newsworthy.
The EEE Laptops run Ubuntu just fine. I would be very surprised if these desktop versions wouldn't. Whether you could turn them into a Hackintosh is kindof a moot point IMO, but probably you could, at least if OS X happens to support the specific hardware they used. Please "get the facts" first next time, thanks.
Every expression is true, for a given value of 'true'
i can buy a far more powerful machine second hand. I can see the rationale for a low priced hand held size device as that niche didn't exist before. But a desktop? Especially when everyone is moving towards laptops...
"Fight Fire With Fire And Everything Will Burn"
"An Eye For An Eye Leaves Everyone Blind"
Frankly, I dont like Microsoft anymore, nor am I ignorant to their previous and current propoganda, but this incessant Anti-Vista nonsense doesn't do much but help advertise Vista, people who have yet to 'experience' Vista, will start because its mentioned so often, under the impression that its so atrociously horrible that its just going to be a comedic little endeavor worth some giggles, then realize its not quite as bad as "all that" and probably grow to like it (as far as common computer users go).
Your choice of quotes is ammusing though, because up until the last few years, Linux has been all of those things to the common "e-mail checking and web browsing" computer users. Which I am not saying is a bad thing, because it led a lot of people into a better understanding of how the operating system functions fundamentally, aswell as I myself enjoyed it because its abundance of options and configuration, and now that there are a lot of "User Friendly" linux distributions out there, those distributions have become bloated and glitchy just like Microsofts OS's have, its what the greater percentage of the user base wants.
Anyways, thats beside my point, and I dont see Microsoft touting how "The XBox runs Microsofts [whatever the fuck] better than Linux", no, because its not intended to. You can argue how it should all be open and any OS under the sun (no punn) should be able to run on anything, but thats also off course of the point.
The very fact that long-time PC manufacturers are designing systems that "are not designed to run Vista" a year and a half after it has been released is about as significant news as you could possibly get, with regards to the PC market in any case.
The only reason when you might have considered it less relevant, would have been if the systems where not selling well at all. So, have you bothered to check Amazons Bestsellers in Computers & PC Hardware list lately? (Amazon being by far the largest online reseller that sells Apple, Asus EEE PC as well as Vista laptops?). The list updates hourly, but currently the first Vista laptop is at spot number 4. The Asus EEE PC used to be at 1 for over a week, and I guess the only reason why it currently isn't, is because they are out of stock everywhere. So it's currently in second place, flanked by Macbooks at place 1 and 3. So basically Microsofts margins are getting squeezed here from two directions at once: Apple at the high end, EEE PC's at the low end.
Every expression is true, for a given value of 'true'
I don't get it.. why would it be able to run xandros and not run ubuntu? They're even both Debian based distros.. they're virtually the same, except for the UI (which can, of course, be changed anyway).
http://www.xkcd.com/354/
I agree.
I'm not defending Vista, im just perturbed by the "...the Ebox is unlikely to allow for the use of Vista, unless you're something of a masochist" remark, mostly because of the latter end of the sentence.
"...unlikely to allow..."
Does it have some sort of boot message? "A Vista Installation Has Been Detected, You Are Advised To Uninstall This Operating System And Return To The Operating System That Came With This Computer"
But im fine with that side, its worth noting that it may be incompetant in regards to running Vista, but its not designed to run Vista, so the masochistic remark is unwarranted unless it was advertised as having the requirements to do so, and then fails.
FTFA - "...but for now Asus is keeping the full spec to itself."
Perhaps when the details are listed in their entirety, and someone has personal experience with (or attempting to) run Vista on it, then you can call people masochists for further attempts.
FTFA - "Last month, Asus launched the Essentio CS5110 mini PC, is a multimedia SFF PC that again got Eee fans' hopes rising... until they saw that it runs Windows Vista."
So, it could be assumed, especially with 2GB's of memory, that it may indeed support (as far as performance specifications) Windows Vista.
I mean, give me a break. This is the company the _invented_ FUD.
I think you meant IBM.
For years we've been hearing "Linux is hard to install", "Linux has poor hardware support", "Command line everything" "No games", etc, etc, etc.
Difference is, most of that stuff was (or still is, in the case of games) true. Pretty much everything negative that gets written about Vista - *especially* on Slashdot - is just flat-out wrong.
Microsoft's FUD pales into insignificance compared to the anti-Vista (and anti-Microsoft in general) crowd's.
One need only look at the very example that started this thread to see that. The "Diamondville" Atom CPU this machine is supposed to have comes in a 2.2Ghz, dual-core version. A CPU like that will run Vista fine (heck, the single-core version will run it fine).
Well,
1. it's just getting old. Yes, we know, you don't like MS. You may even imagine that it's your duty to save the world from it. Guess what? Noone else gives a fuck. Repeating the same wannabe-memes over and over again just makes one boring, nothing more.
2. Fighting FUD and disinformation with FUD and disinformation, does not a moral high ground make. Yes, MS has some nasty marketing and lacks ethics. Guess what? Being as big a lying prick doesn't make you better. It just makes you yet another lying prick.
If you have something useful to contribute (e.g., exactly what problems happen if one runs Vista on that machine, or on a similar configuration?), by all means, go ahead. But just rehashing "but does it run Vista" one-liners is just noise and literally FUD. It's, what? Saving the world from MS evil FUD, by filling it with your own? At the end then we'd still have a disinformed market, making purchases based on little more than uncertainty and _lack_ of knowledge, same as before. Big freakin' improvement. Not. It's like fighting against malaria by giving those people HIV instead.
3. If you want to talk about "inventing FUD", that term was first used about IBM. So, nope, MS didn't invent that either, just like they didn't invent the browser or personal computing.
4. "Now it's your turn and you're whining like whipped bitches" is a piss-poor ad-hominem. I know it probably doesn't fit your simplified view of the world, but not everyone who's tired of hearing you whine, bitch, and moan, is in any way connected to MS. Some of us are just tired of the endless noise from bleating fanboys, drowning the useful signal in threads that have nothing to do with their whine.
It has nothing to do with being pro or against MS. I can tell you that I have a BSD fanboy at work, trying to save me from Linux, and he's just as annoying.
5. "Well suck it up. There's plenty more to come." Well, that's what makes it annoying. You said it once, learn to take a break now and then. Repeating same tired fanboy whine again and again, is hardly going to make it either better or true than it was the first time around. It'll just add more noise to drown the useful signal. If your contribution to the world and claim to greatness is that you'll troll some more, heh... you could get some useful skill instead, and actually contribute something, ya know?
6. I'll even go one step further and say: "It is easier to be a "humanitarian" than to render your own country its proper due; it is easier to be a "patriot" than to make your community a better place to live in; it is easier to be a "civic leader" than to treat your own family with loving understanding; for the smaller the focus of attention, the harder the task." --Sydney J. Harris
I get the distinct impression that a lot of those who can't just shut up even for 5 minutes about saving the world from X (where X can be anything between the upcoming wrath of God, like in the Crusades, to more modern concerns like MS) are those who can't sort out their own lives, or show some backbone to the boss in person. It's _easy_ to fight for some nebulous global task that will never be done, and noone can fault you if you show no progress. So wake me up when you can claim some actual personal achievement, not just being a "me too" clone in the big cozy family of sheep bleating against MS.
Just a thought.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
It's not designed to run Vista, therefore it does not necessitate any reference to Vista, it probably wouldnt run Ubuntu very well either, or OSX... and it can't chew my food for me, so my food must suck too...
The Atom CPU in this thing (even the single core variant) will run Vista fine (assuming the rest of the machine is up to snuff, of course).
It's smaller, lighter, quieter, uses less power and (versus getting used) you don't have to worry if the seller is hiding some problem with the used computer.
It's also worth looking at customer satisfaction, as indicated by the customer reviews. Each of the Apple machines has a review average of 4.5/5 starts; the EEEPC has a review average of 5/5; the first Vista PC has a review average of 3/5. Not only are the non-Vista laptops selling very well, but the people who buy them are happier with what they get for their money - both at the high end and at the low end.
I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.
The fact that it's not designed to run Vista, and probably has a spec that would struggle to run Vista is noteworthy to those who want to run MS on it. XPs days are numbered, so anybody buying one hoping for an MS Windows platform needs to know that they're already near the end of support. They might decide that it's worth it anyway, they might not, but it's relevant information, not naive Vista-bashing.
Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
I keep reading here 'you get the same as regular PC for the same money with more power'.
WTF?
No, you don't. This thing is the size of a friggin' external HDD! It probably consumes less than a third of the power of a regular desktop and - optical media, hardcore gaming and CAD aside - can do everything a bulky box can do. And a gaming rigg or CAD machine costs a 4-digit sum anyway and serves a totally different market.
About half a year ago I replaced my large linux tower with the first ATX casing ever (an Inwin from 1996 - still the best tinker-case ever) - which weighs something like a metric ton, has the size of a minivan and sounds like a 747 taking off *and* requires me to crawl under the table when hooking up USB or Ethernet - with the smallest Mac Mini I could get. I pimped it out with 3 GB and shudder with horror whenever I boot up that cludgy thing to migrate data or something. The 1,8 Ghz Mac Mini sits *under* my 20" samsung cinema flatscreen at an arms-length away from my ears and I only hear it when I play Sauerbraten for more than 5 minutes.
I can't believe that anybody other than hardcore gamers, video compositors or 3D Fx people even consider getting a midi tower these days, let alone a bigtower.
I believe this new Asus stunt will finally tap yet another new market of zero-fuss one-stop workstation solutions and have the midi and maxi towers finally go the way of the dodo for most markets. Personally, I sure do hope so. It's about time too.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Please, forgive the OP for expecting the machine to be benchmarked against its ability to run current operating systems that aren't Linux. The thing probably wouldn't run Leopard very well either.
Boot Windows, Linux, and ESX over the network for free.
It does however make you wonder then why Asus seems to be going out of it's way to not offer Vista over XP.
When this device was previewed in January it was made abundantly clear that XP would be the only Microsoft option offered.
If it's not due to technical reasons (I'll take your word on the fact that a low power cpu will allow for a graceful experience with Vista), perhaps cost?
regards, the_leander
This thing is ideal for students, or anyone else going away from home for a long period of time. I live in Connecticut and next year will be going to college in California. Instead of shelling out $1500 for a comparable laptop, I can get one of these instead and keep using my elderly notebook. It goes on the plane, it fits in a small dorm room, it has a pretty big hard drive. A winner in my book.
- Apple: 8
- Linux: 6, Asus, Nokia
- Vista: 2, HP
with HP branded vista machines placing at 4th and 9th. The other items in the list are screens mostly.it makes me wonder what HP are going to do about this because they are the losers here - they could easily develop a Linux based system to rival the Macs or the Asus EEE's.
Are you trying to say that IBM made Vista?
I think you may need to do a little fact checking there.
Let's talk about who made that progress then.
It was made by people like those from Asus, who actually made a Linux computer for the masses. Or by the guys at Ubuntu putting together that wonderful distro. Or by the lots of guys who set their eyes on a realistic goal, like, say, let's make a little config utility, and actually achieved it.
It was not made by the trolling fanboys posting FUD.
In fact, any progress has been made in _spite_ of the trolling faboys and their blatant attempts at FUD. Those just helped alienate the potential market. If you tell someone a blatant lie again, you just lost credibility. Anything else that you try to tell him, will be tainted by that. And the fanboy FUD just served to create an impression in some people that the whole Linux crowd is a bunch of pathological lying whiners.
People, it's not like telling shit about Elbonia. Everyone has a Windows computer, or knows someone who does. Telling him bullshit like that his machine does this and that, which he knows (or can quickly check) that it doesn't do, is just a way to lose his trust and attention.
Even MS FUD steered clear of blatant lies. Just something to think about.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
I asked a shop in the central business district of Melbourne how the EEE laptop Linux machines were selling now that Asus provides a Microsoft system (with lower hardware specs to compensate for the cost of the OS). The answer was that the Windows version was strongly outselling the Linux version. However, Linux market share is about 0.7% so even if the Windows version is selling 10 to 1, the Linux version is still helping Linux get market share.
For the record, I use Debian and for an EEE PC I would recommend to consumers to use the Linux version.
"the brand new SMART car, has 5 extra horsepower over the last model, but it still can't pull a horse trailer"
Get a smaller, lighter horse.
Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
Xandros are one of those stupid companies that did a patent deal. Wake me up when I can buy one of these machines without an installed OS, or at least without a linux distro that bent-over for Microsoft.
Sure, but it might save your life. Read about it in this book. When you are downwind from a big fire, set fire to the grass in front of you, then walk into the burned patch.
Define "few" years, please. I started using Linux in 1995 with the Yggdrasil "plug and play" distribution. At that time it was more or less like what the Microsoft shills claim, but still I was able to install and run it in less than an hour, without any outside help. Google didn't exist at the time and I had never met anyone who had ever used Linux.
Compared to that, at about the same period it took me nearly a week and several consultations with other people until I got Windows 95 to run on the same machine. The hardware drivers had to be carefully configured and installed in a precise sequence to boot windows 95, even though it had been running windows 3.11 before. So, even if Linux was in an extremely primitive state for the common user at the time, it wasn't any more difficult to install and configure than windows.
For normal use today, I think Linux with KDE is easier to use than XP (I have never tried Vista). For one thing, the "K" or "Start" menu is nicely organized, divided by application type instead of by software provider. Also, It's much easier to search and install software: click on "Add/Remove programs", search by keyword, click on "install" and "apply changes", and that's it. And copy/paste is easier too: select with the mouse, middle-click to paste. One handed, no need to CTRL-C, CTRL-V. And so on, etc, etc.
Now, if you think it's off-topic to mention Vista in a discussion about Linux, think again: why is it that Linux is mentioned 177000 times in the Microsoft website? It's always on-topic to mention the alternatives, of course.
fgsfds :(
Don't forget "Linux is a cancer", which other than being plainly offensive is really bad taste. And it came from the CEO of that company.
Nope. Edison invented FUD. Either that or he stole it from someone else (as was his practice).
FUD didn't begin with Microsoft or IBM.
You could probably find some examples in Greece, Egypt or Ur if you tried to look for it...
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
How is mentioning that a new desktop PC won't be able to run Vista in anyway off topic?
And a 1.6GHz processor and 2Gb of RAM is more than enough to run the latest Ubuntu. Frankly, I'd be surprised if it couldn't run Vista too.
http://www.mhall119.com
That might potentially be relevant if Asus had announced that they explicitly won't support Vista. Asus has announced no such thing...TFA doesn't even mention Vista in reference to the Eee. We just have some random slashdotter's wild-ass speculation that it will run like poo.
Asus did announce it would have 2 GB of RAM. To be honest, Vista will probably be plenty usable with that. It won't be a screamer, but having a lot of RAM typically makes Windows N+1 a bearable experience, even on a relatively slow CPU.
Please stop stalking me, bro.
Remember the Mac Mini ?
The first branded computer to bring awareness of small-form factors to the masses ?
It was also marketed as cheap way to upgrade one's desktop, and it wasn't specially ugly either.
Asus is trying to market PCs as commodity technology, as appliance.
And it's usually the nice design which makes a cheap appliance attractive rather than the power under the hood.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
If this thing runs Ubuntu well, I'll probably get one. It should make a very nice little server type machine... especially if you can open it up and put a larger HDD in it.
Cost would get my vote.
Also it would likely run Vista in the non-areo mode, so why use Vista over XP?
Just note that GP said "The Atom CPU in this thing (even the single core variant) will run Vista fine".
Now, running any application over Vista... now *that* would be overkill.
Also, how much space does vista require?
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
These mini style PCs are great. Quiet, cheap, low power etc. But one if it can't play MKV files then they are hard to use as media center devices.
Remember that the new extended life XP is for a very limited set of hardware. Screens = 10". That alone would probably make any desktop system (with an external monitor) ineligible for an XP license.
It'll probably run Vista, but that'd require a lot more RAM than the Linux version. How will they get away with making Linux more expensive than Vista on this thing? Who knows, but presumably MS will try to force them to.
Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
I have to agree with some of the other comments. The Mac Mini is a great little machine, but it's most appropriate for someone wanting a small, "entry level priced" computer that runs Apple's OS X.
It's *not* really an attractive solution when the primary goal is low-price.
The cost of OS X Leopard is factored into the price of each and every new Mac Mini, and that's around $200 itself. By loading a Linux distro on an Asus, they avoid all of that, right off the bat - and Linux is just as "immune to browser exploits and remote attacks" as OS X is, really.
Well, yes, but that's still no excuse to counter them with lies that don't even work. If you have to counter a fallacy about linux, by all means do it. By pointing out the truth. Not by making up a counter-lie about Windows.
Even if you don't care about the moral high ground, Linux just isn't in a position to use the same monopolistic tactics that worked for MS. You tend to actually need a near-monopoly for those to work.
FUD is based on people's existing fear of change and unknown. It gives them more reason to not try what they don't already know. It doesn't work as a tactic to get them to ditch what they already know, because there is no Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt to play on.
They're tactics for walling people _in_ your garden, not for convincing them to join it.
_If_ Linux had 90% of the market, then maybe you could scare them out of considering Windows, with made up horror stories. But when the situation is reversed, making up shit about Windows just makes you that guy who's making up shit again.
And certainly not with an obnoxious attitude like, "Now it's your turn and you're whining like whipped bitches. Well suck it up. There's plenty more to come." Which is what irked me in the message I was answering to originally. Advocating doesn't work by blanket calling everyone an enemy, and getting them to dislike you. If they dislike you, they're less likely to listen to anything you have to say.
I'm not even saying anything new or which shouldn't be common sense. Check out, for example, the Paul L. Rogers's Linux Advocacy Mini-FAQ. I'm waiting to see if some fanboy feels a need to paint him in the MS shills camp for offering advice like, "Avoid hyperbole and unsubstantiated claims at all costs. It's unprofessional and will result in unproductive discussions." Or "Focus on what Linux has to offer. There is no need to bash the competition. Linux is a good, solid product that stands on its own."
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
It's possible (from the lack of a comma) he thought you were simply the wrong clown.
Could be I'm the right clown.
One thing is for certain: the poster is an Anonymous Coward.
You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
Not that I'm disagreeing with what I think is your comment's main point. If it's designed for a version of Xandros that's customized for the Eee PC, then I'm sure that's a better choice than Windows. Also, I'm sure free-as-in-beer Ubuntu (also based on Debian) will work just fine in the future. I'm just saying that XP is not "near the end of support" for most users.
TO START
PRESS ANY KEY
Where's the 'ANY' key? I see Esk, Kitarl, and Pig-Up...
You do have a bit of a point there; however, Asus does sell its EEE PC's with (only) Linux or XP preinstalled. The option to have one with Vista preinstalled is glaringly missing, in a day and age where every other PC manufacturer is to all practical intents and purposes forced by Microsoft to deliver all its systems with Vista or (if they are willing to endanger their reduced-price OEM licensing deals) no Microsoft OS at all. So it is really not much of a stretch to state that they do not support it. It is also very likely that the same will be true for their desktop version because Vista would run like a dog on those machines, certainly if compared to XP, and Asus is obviously aware of that.
Every expression is true, for a given value of 'true'
This looks like it could be very useful for someone like me who moves back and forth every few weeks between 2 homes. I could have monitor, kb, mouse etc. in each home, and travel with this light small box.
It's a small footprint computer. These have been done before for the last few years in various forms. Usually with a laptop's guts inside. The whole point of the Eee PC was that it was a low cost portable computer "laptop-like" device that ran full OSes (not just WindowsCE or some other lightweight OS). Where before those types of devices were extremely expensive for the compactness.
It certainly is cool looking. The only thing I can think of that would make this stand out is a low price. But other than that it's like a lower end Mac Mini with the Diamondville CPU.
I dunno, I think desktops kinda lend to higher expectations when it comes to what wows people for this type of thing. I think what they should do is come out with a low cost, small footprint gaming console PC that runs a modified version of Windows Vista or Ubuntu (Wine) for gaming like they've been talking about in the industry. Now that would be interesting.