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Linux For Housewives. XP For Geeks.
Talinom writes "ZDNet has an article sure to raise the hackles of any self-respecting geek. They report that housewives buying small laptops like the Asus EE are causing Linux usage for that demographic to spike. A reporter for Tech-On states that 'Retailers and contract manufacturers in Taiwan say that novice PC users there, like students and housewives, tend to buy the Linux version of the Eee PC701, while geeks go for Windows XP.'"
The geeks are buying the XP version to install their own flavor of Linux as a dual-boot?
Then they are stupid geeks. The Windows version has a smaller disk, so it makes more sense to buy the Linux version.
Well, I lived in Taiwan for quite a while, and I think Windows is quite common among geeks because (for no clear reason) MSN Messenger has become the No. 1 communication vehicle among the young folks. No one ever asked my ICQ No. or mail address, just my MSN name. Which I still don't have, by the way.
MSN works fine on Linux. I use Pidgin (formerly GAIM) to chat with work contacts and push them to google messanger when MSN goes down.
No MS Windows needed.
the Windows version is cheaper, or so I've heard.
You heard *very* wrong.
When comparing identical hardware, the Windows version is much more expensive. When you look at the model numbers, the Linux and Windows versions are the same price, but the Linux version comes with a much larger SSD.
Look at the Product Features:
Internal 4GB SSD based Hard Drive
Intel 900Mhz Mobile ULV 512MB DDR2 Memory
Intel 910GML Chipset
7" LCD screen with 800x480 pixels resolution
10/100 LAN WiFi b/g
Built-in 300k pixel webcam
Built-in stereo speaker and microphone
Interfaces include SD card slot, 3x USB 2.0, Mic and Headphone Jack, VGA Out
Ultimate Speed - 10 Sec Bootup, 5 Sec Shutdown
Windows XP compatible
Optional USB Based External Optical Drive
Optional Carry Case
3 hours of battery life
Measures (WxHxD) 225 x 21-35 x 165 mm
Weighs 890g
Who is "video games and download a bajillion 'utilities'", geek or housewife? That is unless your talking about games from 1998.
Spelling and Grammar errors have been added to this post for your enjoyment
The last thing they want to do is wait for Windows to load, defrag for an hour, update the antivirus, and then start using facebook...
Ugh, tell me about it. We had to buy a Vista laptop for my wife to run a medical practice management app, and it's a dual-core system with 2GB of memory. By all accounts it's a fast computer, but by the time Vista finishes booting, all of the "update me!" dialogs have been clicked, and it's actually ready to use, she's cussing at the thing.
By contrast, my Eee PC 4G goes from powered-off to using Firefox in under 30 seconds. It actually ships with an antivirus app if you must have that weekly display of pointlessness, but it doesn't run by default. What's not to like about a system that's infinitely more usable than the much faster, more expensive computer sitting next to it?
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
See, that logic fails as soon as you realize that the linux version has the larger drive.
I pwn this comment. "The Fine Print" says so.