** Reply to message from Andrew Lentvorski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:30:07 -0700
> Well, they won't have to. With the newest Atom stuff coming out of > Intel, even the small computers will probably have enough power to run > Vista--especially if coupled with a solid state drive. that's dreaming isn't it? I've seen Vista running on new laptop hardware and unless they pull of some magic, it's a dog and a resource hog like no other. Dream about some new fantastic battery tech too and just maybe Vista will be crammed into systems with the new Intel Atom. But also watch out for the new multi core 2GHz ARM chips looking to show up in Linux based UMPs. Windows CE is the only thing from MSFT that'll run on those and I don't think WinCE runs dual core anyways. Nothing from MSFT exists to compete on that platform but expect some vaporware announcements if those start flooding into Europe and beyond. > Actually, PCClub was very active in recommending the Eee PC to me today. > I was surprised. new alert, not all sales people are alike. Some even get kickbacks for selling certain products over others. So what you experience is not always going to be what others experience. Good to hear you found a good salesman for the the Eee PC though. > > Even more interesting, one of the techs owns one and let me play with > it. He also had no idea about how to pull up a command prompt. > > That surprised me more than anything. I expected anyone using the Eee > PC to be a Linux hacker. Again, I don't know about RedHat much because they gave up on desktop Linux many years ago. Others like Xandros( formerly Corel Linux ), Freespire, Ubuntu and others are very desktop oriented and have put alot of effort into easing system tweaking. You've really not used a desktop Linux recently have you? > I don't agree that these cheap, subnotebook devices are the breakout. > If they become too popular, Microsoft will respond. The main reason > Microsoft hasn't so far is that they still view them pretty skeptically > and don't want to commit too much resource yet. They also don't want to > make them too good a replacement or Dell and HP will start to get pissy. oh come on now, Microsoft has been willing to assign 12 employees to one reporter for one little story, you don't think they have people assigned to this sector? The Asus Eee PC has been all over the press for almost a year and signs of new versions capable of running Windows seem to show they are muscling into the market. For instance, the new 900 series which comes with Windows or Linux has more hardware than the 700 series but Asus is adding even more hardware to the Linux version and selling it at the same cost as the Windows version. That sounds like Microsoft sales people pushing back on Asus so Linux versions are not cheaper than Windows versions on the same hardware. They are in a tough spot with the standard laptop OEMs as you mentioned and it is probably why they will only extend Windows XP Home for these small and low-end laptops. We'll see if fully network able Linux models find their way into corporate landscapes because XP Home can't. > > So, basically Microsoft is just trying to fight a marketing war to > prevent Linux from getting entrenched anywhere without committing too > much technical expertise. They don't want these to become too popular > or people will start putting even more pressure on Microsoft's pricing. > ie. if you give away the OS, that $400 Microsoft Office package now > starts looking kinda expensive relative to these computers. It's always been a marketing war because every other competitor has had technically better technology but often lost. Microsoft has time and time again paid vendors, businesses, and governments to lock them into Windows and away from competition. But this time, the hardware vendors are driving the solutions and Microsoft not only does not have current technology for these devices, they can't enable their old OS to have features the full laptops have for fear of OEM backlash on those money makers. And a $400 MS Office license looks very expensive on $600 laptops. But you are probably used to $1000+ Apple hardware so the difference is much less. SMBs are pinching pennies and most are buying under $1000 laptops. IMO, the only think keeping OEMs from pre-loading Open Office is Microsoft marketing deals which most likely are threatened for elimination if open source software is preloaded on OEM systems. Doug -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
