I am not always negative about technology, but the second announcement today has be to be viewed objectively. Asus has announced Windows XP for the EeePC.
It could cost an additional $US30-60 for the Microsoft OS, and will come pre-installed with software such as Live Mail, Messenger, Photo Gallery and Family Safety (for parental lock). These are all great, except that you will need to have internet to really take advantage of the ‘Live’ services.
It doesn’t come pre-loaded with office, and of course you will be stuck with IE, unless you install Firefox (or Opera). It also means that you have a OS that can do everything, on a machine that clearly wasn’t created to do everything. In other words I don’t think Windows XP should go anywhere near the EeePC.
It isn’t all bad news. Giving you the ability to install your favourite Windows applications to your portable companion is great. It opens up options to use peripherals that aren’t supported for Linux, and makes it easier to be hacked by the hardcore Windows geeks.
On the other hand, those things don’t balance the fact that Windows XP is a heavy OS that will take up a lot of space to do less then the Linux OS can do. It will need more memory and won’t run very nicely on a 900MHz Celeron processor.
There are advantages to many people to have Windows XP on such a device, but the device was never created for that purpose. Microsoft really need to make a lightweight OS that does a little less, but handles the lower speed processors and plays nicer with SSD’s. Meanwhile I will keep reading my Linux For F##king Idiots Books (adults version, with swear words and naked women).
For more info, click over to DailyTech.
Since I’ve been gone we have seen the OLPC go up in price, we have seen the Palm Foreo shown off and then disappear, the VIA NanoBook impress and now we have the big news of something which sits between the lot of them. The device I’m talking about is the Asus EeePC.
It isn’t the latest news, and has been talked about for a few months now, but lets have a quick run over of what it is. Inside you are looking at something which should be quicker then your OLPC, with a 900Mhz Intel processor, integrated Intel GMA 900 graphics processor, 7-inch display, 256 or 512 MB DDR2-400 (upgradeable to 1GB), 2, 4, 8 or 16 GB flash Solid state drive, Hi-Definition Audio, 5200 mAh 4 cell battery (different numbers everywhere on life, but about 3-4 hours), PCI Express Mini Card connector, 10/100 Mbit Ethernet, 56k modem, 802.11b/g wireless LAN and a SD card slot for expandability. That is only the top of what it is capable of with some variants of the notebook to feature a built in web camera and possibly bigger screens in the future (10-inch). The whole ultralight weighs a measly 890 grams, making it light enough to keep on you most of the time.
The software part of the unit runs on a special edition of Xandros, which is a Linux based OS originally designed for simplicity and to mimic some parts of the windows environment. Asus have also said that it will be compatible with Windows XP, though that will be a extra cost to the user.
The questionable part is the reality of this unit. There has been tests run on and reviews by some websites about this unit (mostly positive), but the release dates are constantly changing and the specs as well. Even the price has gone up by around $US70 putting it at around $US269. Even those facts are being requestioned everyday!
Now I have to ask why? I understand it is cheap and does quite a bit, but then again it lacks quite a bit as well and considering the OLPC can do almost everything it can do in theory and at the same time help the poor, why would Asus release a notebook at could possibly compete with it? Is it a greedy move by Asus or just a smart one? Will be a great side kick to users who want a small cheap secondary device to travel with or Will it be to small and to under powered to be any use to anyone?
Now it is time for predictions. I expect this to be shunned by a lot of pro OLPC supporters, and for a lot of public releases from Asus saying it is the same but different to the OLPC. I expect it to be released later then we all expected (why rush? There is still no competition). I expect it to have a great initial release selling lots, but later on considered a gadget unless you upgrade to the more expensive mode. Seeing Apple and Asus have a tight relationship, expect an Apple variant of this notebook (more expensive and shiny).
For now that is all I will rant on about this product, but expect an update when I know more about the subject at hand.
For more info, hop skip and jump over to either the Asus EeePC Website, Wikipedia EeePC Page or the EeeUser Website.