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Asus To Phase Out Sub-10" Eee PCs
jeevesbond writes "The Register reports that Asus president Jerry Shen has revealed his company will be phasing out all sub-10" Eee PCs. According to Shen, the 'standard' netbook next year will be a 10" model with a hard drive running XP. Shen also said XP is outselling GNU/Linux on netbooks by a ratio of 7:3. This is somewhat contrary to news from the UK earlier in the year that GNU/Linux units were out of stock while XP machines sat unsold. Are Brits more open-minded than the rest of the world when it comes to choosing an OS?"
I don't work for free. I never will - I rather become an electrician than consider becoming a linux developer. My 2c worth! I worked very hard for this career - you don't like it, then sell your computer and watch TV.
Who says Linux devs work for free? Do you know what we pay for LabView on Linux? Or what I am willing to pay for Photoshop?
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
Windows XP installs quickly,
1. Does it matter for Joe Sixpack how much time does XP take to install if Joe Sixpack doesn't do the install himself?
runs that software
2. If Joe Sixpack uses Internet Exporer because he doesn't know there is another browser, why should he care about using Firefox instead? Same could be said for the rest.
doesn't crash much, and with newer security measures is unlikely to get infected.
3. With the right drivers you mean. But Joe Sixpack didn't install Windows so he doesn't care about that does he? ;)
and with newer security measures is unlikely to get infected.
4. I would be surprised to learn about netbooks shipping with SP3. If they aren't then they are unlikely to get infected if 'getting infected' means the stock Norton antivirus tells you so.
For Linux to compete, it should aim at producing distributions that support as much hardware as XP, have similar friendly installations, and possibly -- dear god did I say it -- run XP software, because win32 is the biggest software base in the world and it's what users want.
5. Ubuntu 7.10 supported my computer's driver infinitely better than the stock Windows XP version. I had to download the drivers using Ubuntu and move them onto the Windows partition.
6. The setup is as friendly if not friendlier.
7. Wine anybody?
8. Have you actually tried Ubuntu 8.04?
When ideas fail, words become very handy.
This is absurd. Isn't the whole point of a netbook that it's small, light and efficient? Why would you get rid of the smallest model and the most efficient OS? This smells of a backdoor M$ deal. If they offered both OS's on the same hardware I'm sure the picture would be much different.
Rolling two stories into one post, my friend bought an Asus Aspire with linux. The other day she asked me what the NewEgg return policy was. It took me a while to pry it out of her that she couldn't get on her university's VPN in Linux. I installed the linux client for her. Point is, her first impulse was to return it rather than attempt the learning curve.
Oh and yes, and another thing, the Linux GUIs offered on netbooks are designed for retards. That's also perhaps geeks don't buy them.
I have an eee PC 901 with Linux. First, the 20 GB SSD is a sweet deal compared to 12 GB with Win XP. Second, the Asus has made excellent job with Xandros Linux to provide easy-to-use, usable-with-everyday-tasks operating system. When I bought my eee PC, I was confident that I'll install Unbuntu eee immediately to it, but now, after a week of use, I actually like the preinstalled Linux. It provides everything I need - and I consider myself a geek - and it has a terminal, which is great, because I don't necessarily need any fancy GUI systems, the shell is enough for most "geek stuff" for me.
So, in my opinion, the preinstalled Linux is fine for non-geeks. And that's the target audience. But I enjoy it also, and if I some day find it "retarded", I can always install some other Linux distribution and be happy with it. And so can any one geek, who don't like the default installation. So, I don't get your complaint actually at all.
Small, light and efficient, eh?
I decided to revitilize my grandparent's old Celeron 500 w/ 128MB of RAM with Xubuntu. I couldn't install it with the live CD, but I got it on there. And it ran like crap. Very, very slow and sluggish...I was kind of suprised So I was about to throw it out, and figured, what the hell, and put XP on it. I turned off the Fisher Price UI, and it ran a HELL of a lot better than Xubuntu. Enough that it turned from unusuable to usable. I was stunned.
So I see no reason for XP to be any slower than a modern version of desktop Linux, unless the UI is REALLY stripped down. But any Atom-based computer will handle XP as well as Linux without a sweat.
And MS did do a deal..but it was very front door, not back door. They slashed the cost of XP for netbooks to something like $30-$40. Linux was used first because of cost, but the cost advantage is much smaller now. And the manufacturers and retailers believe that XP will produce fewer support calls and reduce return rates (whether or not they are correct is up for debate), justifying the extra cost. I'm sorry, there is no secret MS conspiracy here for you to be paranoid about. They did their normal thing...they saw Linux gaining marketshare, figured out why (cost), and they compensated.
Also, it's Acer Aspire. Asus's netbook line is the Eee.
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He wasn't alone.
There was a large number of people trying to find Linux 901's on Whirlpool. http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1011353
Many ended up doing what he did, and got the XP one even though it wasn't really what they wanted.
Part of the reason for lack of stock was thought to be that the Linux version was supposed to have a larger SSD (to make up for the cost of the XP license). But they were allegedly in short supply.
Ever stop to think
Don't forget:
3. Being told that to get foreign language support, you need to purchase yet another package called "Microsoft Office Proofing Tools" and/or "Microsoft Office Multilanguage Pack", depending on what version of Microsoft Office you have. If you have a mix between different office versions, you may need both. And if you want the UI language changed too and not just the ability to use the language in your documents, you need Single Language packs in addition to the multilanguage pack.
Language Packs (Office 2007+) are $25 for single languages or $200 for the multilanguage pack.
Proofing Tools (Office 2003-) are $30 for single languages or $120 for the multilanguage pack.
Per user.
Not only is it costly, but it's a jungle to figure out exactly what you need.