Windows XP Lives, Thanks to Linux

CWmike writes "Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols puts his thumb on what really happened to spur Microsoft's change of mind on sparing Windows XP: The smashing success of Asus and others' Linux-powered UMPCs and mini-notebooks caught Microsoft completely by surprise. It turned out people wanted inexpensive, hard-working Linux laptops rather than overpriced, underpowered Vista PCs. If anyone thought this was a flash in the pan, that Asus just hit it lucky once, they haven't been paying attention. Intel is putting big bucks into its Atom family of processors, which have been designed for UMPCs, or as Intel would have it, MIDs. Intel has encouraged both the computer makers and the Linux companies in its Moblin initiative to run desktop Linux. The Linux companies have picked up on this. Canonical, Ubuntu's dad company, has come up with an UMPC-specific version of Ubuntu 8.04, the latest version of this popular Linux distribution, for Intel Atom UMPCs. At Computex, by my count, more than a dozen new UMPCs were announced both from vendors you've never heard of and from big name companies like Acer and Asus. You can also expect to see Dell releasing its 'mini-Inspiron' with Ubuntu by June's end."

EEEPC

[willeyhill]

Any UMPC using SSDs is already tougher than the "toughbooks" currently in use. Just buy a EEE PC and silicone some rubber and foam onto it.

Re:I knew it

[russlar]

Finally this is the year of desktop linux.

Didn't you say that last year?

Re:More like a stay of execution..

[s31523]

Which will be an XP box with a black marker 'X' through it and "Vista Lite" written underneath it!

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Ubuntu's dad company?

[morgan_greywolf]

Dad company? I thought it was just a hurriedly written, apathetically edited slashdot crud. Turns out the gem was in the original presumably well written article. So the question is who did that "dad" sleep with to spawn Ubuntu?

Deb and Ian Murdoch, of course.

Re:XP Home Only

[Goaway]

Name me one network admin who will use XP Home on an ultra-portable.

Remind me again why anybody would care what network admins do with their ultraportables?

Re:Microsoft ain't over

[MightyYar]

A++ for the level-headed response. I would have just called him either delusional or a troll :)

Re:EEEPC

[MightyYar]

A man "silicone augmenting" his computer... hmm, pretty soon you'll have something to make into a movie. [imdb.com]

Re:Thing is, Vista sells more in a day than linux

[TTURabble]

What?

Re:I knew it

[Archangel Michael]

He is mistaken. This is the year of the Laptop Linux!

Desktop Linux isn't scheduled for release yet. Perhaps next year.

Re:Apple needs to make overpriced underpowered min

[MightyYar]

Well, that was random.

Coke needs to come out with a blue-flavored cola.

does this make it.....

[OutOnARock]

The Year of the Linux UMPC?

...ducks... :) ....

Re:EEEPC already does that. M$ is over.

[silgaun]

You're right. It's not a failure, it's a feature

Re:EEEPC already does that. M$ is over.

[Gat0r30y]

Goople? oh dear, I just threw up a little.

Re:Just keep stalling..

[KGIII]

I am not sure why they were modded down really. It seems reasonably on-topic and they should be welcome to their opinion. I suspect that they are a bit like myself and one of the six other people who actually had sustained enjoyable productive experiences on Windows ME. Sometimes we even had stable machines.

I was never sure if WinME was a SP for the 9x line or a beta for XP but I, and the afore mentioned six people, really enjoyed it.

Re:EEEPC already does that. M$ is over.

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple dominates the high end market and GNU/Linux rules the low. Soon the ends will meet and M$ will be squeezed out. Vista is a failure and it has taken M$ down with it.

The change is permenant. Vendors have revolted, M$ won't be able to come back.

Yes, M$ won't be able to come back. They are dead. They've passed on. They've ceased to be. They've expired and gone on to meet their makers. They're collectively a stiff. Bereft of life, they rest in peace. If Vista didn't require so much power from modern computers, they'd have some energy left to be pushing up the daisies. Their metabolic processes are now history. They're off the twig. They've kicked the bucket. They've shuffled off this mortal coil. They've run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is an ex-company.

The tide has turned. The bridges have been burned. The show is over. The day is done. The war is won. The keg is drained. The horse is dead. The sun has set. The goldfish has gone belly-up. The farm is bought. The fat lady's sung. The house lights have gone on. The toast is burnt. The grounds crew has taken the field. The disco is over. The next sound you hear will be the sound of the ambassador's phone melting. The parade has started. The spark is gone. The magic has left. The phone is ringing. The speeches are done. This premise is wearing thin.

Re:Talk about la-la-land.

[willyhill]

I'm not Twitter

No, of course you're not. You're just some dude that created a Slashdot account three weeks ago with a grand total of 60 comments, most of which are spent shilling [slashdot.org] twitter's posts and those of his other nine [slashdot.org] accounts.

It's just all a big misunderstanding.

Re:Microsoft ain't over

[niko9]

...Vista's too big, Mobile's too small, but XP may be about right. Personally, I still think XP's on the pudgy side...

Hey Goldilocks, why don't you slide on over next to me and I'll show you that XP is not the only thing around these parts that is pudgy... ;)