Asus To Phase Out Sub-10" Eee PCs 497
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?"
Re:XP outsells Linux, guess why (Score:1, Interesting)
last time i checked here in nz the linux and windows versions of atom based eees were priced the same.
Asus To Phase Out Sub-10" Eee PCs (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Linux on Netbooks (Score:2, Interesting)
That is exactly what I did. I bought the Windows XP version (1000 HA) and dual booted XP and ubuntu eee. I primarily use ubuntu and hardly use windows, although I find it handy to have around when I need to flash a windows mobile phone, or I end up with some windows software.. At least no matter where I go I will have both operating systems at my finger tips.
Re:cheap PC (Score:5, Interesting)
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?
eee 1000 (Score:4, Interesting)
I would buy one with Linux installed if given the choice, but would immediately install ubuntu's netbook edition or eeebuntu or whatever seems to be the going version of the moment.
Re:cheap PC (Score:4, Interesting)
> I don't work for free. I never will - I rather become an electrician than consider becoming a linux developer
I've got paid for developing software for Linux. There are software companies that write software just for Linux. Just because Linux is free doesn't mean that you could get money when writing software for it.
Also if you must write software for Windows, you can still do it with free cross platform libraries and get support for other platforms for free. Sometimes you can even save in development when choosing these libraries, because they are so good.
At work I use Windows because I'm asked to. At home I use Linux. I write software at work for the company, but at home I write it for the world.
Bought on price, Returned soon after (Score:1, Interesting)
The XP version at 699 sits next to linux version at 599. Buyer says, blimey! the bloody staff mismarked! and runs out with the 599 "steal". Once home, he soon realizes he was the sucker and back he and it go. This is the "Wallmart experience" of Linux machines.
Re:Linux on Netbooks (Score:3, Interesting)
I also made it dual boot and spend most of my netbook time running Linux.
Re:XP is closer to "just works" for most (Score:3, Interesting)
That is just about the polar opposite of my experience. XP is showing its age because shoe-horning it onto an eeepc 901 was a horrible task. The installer is just dumb and can't handle anything but a CD-drive, which I don't have.
I then used the incredible unetbootin [sourceforge.net] to try out a bunch of linux distros from USB sticks and even an SDcard, finally settling on intrepid. Unfortunately it didn't quite "just work" because of the wireless card. (Big surprise)
The netbook platform is unique I feel in not needing the usual windows baggage anyway.
Re:XP is closer to "just works" for most (Score:5, Interesting)
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?
Misquoted (Score:0, Interesting)
Sales ratios were not mentioned [slashdot.org]. The submitter was right to wonder and so should we all.
The real question is how M$ turned Asus around so fast. There was no Windows version when these things were introduced and sold like hot cakes. Asus revenues and profits are down since they started making versions no one wants. What did they hold over Asus to make them do this to themselves?
Did a comparison at a store near us. (Score:1, Interesting)
I took my Dad over to a store near us that had a variety of them. I was excited to show him Linux running on one until we discovered that it was completely locked up. The mouse would move but otherwise it was dead. He seemed to think the XP versions were cool. Not sure why he wasn't impressed with the greatness of Linux and its legendary stability. At least he was more impressed with them then he was by the Apple section.
Obligatory bad car analogy (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Well "Works With Linux" is a feature to me (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Not True, Flame bait (Score:2, Interesting)
That article, and the one it links to, are misquoting an answer to a conference call question with investors regarding if the netbooks under 10" where competing with the sales of their notebooks over 10". He said no, accept with their very small market for 11" notebooks. He also said nothing about increasing the amount of linux or windows. Just the raw number regarding what was sold.
Look for the audio recording of the conference call.
Fore hose this post, they are just baiting the linux community on slashdot.
Re:XP outsells Linux because... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:XP outsells Linux, guess why (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:XP outsells Linux, guess why (Score:3, Interesting)
The HP netbook has SuSE Enterprise, so not all netbooks have retarded GUIs.
Re:XP is closer to "just works" for most (Score:3, Interesting)
I've not seen anyone use Outlook Express for a long time. They use Internet Explorer for their email - via a webmail service. I guess that's why Windows 7 isn't going to ship with an email client.
Re:XP outsells Linux, guess why (Score:3, Interesting)
No, the Linux distro on my EeePc is far more retarded than any MS offering even from the very start of MS Windows, and frankly is likely to make anybody coming from MS Windows think that Linux is a pathetic, crippled OS. I can't help wondering whether this was all an MS stunt from the start.
Re:Well "Works With Linux" is a feature to me (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Linux :( (Score:3, Interesting)
When I bought my eee 10', Linux was not available, so much about freedom of choosing.
I managed to sell the WinXP licence though.
Re:XP outsells Linux because... (Score:5, Interesting)
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 [whirlpool.net.au]
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.
Re:Well "Works With Linux" is a feature to me (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm probably going to get modded troll or flamebait for this, but everything I am about to say is 100% true to the best of my recollection. And no, I am not an astroturfer for MS. In fact, I'm not sure despite how often that term is thrown around that MS actually hires any astroturfers, or at least I have not seen any direct evidence of this.
Anyway, you can lump me in as another story similar to your friend's. I'm a computer programmer and consider myself to be in around the 95%+ percentile of techsavvyness. I can do stuff in the command line, and am not freaked out by it, but a good 75% of my attempts to follow instructions online on complex operations still falls into what I like to call the 'magical incantation' method of making things work, where you get a command that will supposedly do what you need, and you enter it in exactly like you are told to invoke the result. Along the way, you wince everytime you see an error message or warning pop up, not knowing whether or not this is the expected result or something is wrong with the incantation.
I got an EeePC loaded with Linux. Like everytime when I try Linux every few years, I came in bright eyed and hopeful, thinking this time would be different.
I needed to get foreign languages installed on it. Spent approximately 3 hours following forum posts and hacking at it. Everything apparently installed, but it just would not work, no additional language options appeared. No idea why, maybe a conflict with something Asus installed.
I needed to get Blackberry charging drivers installed. Found some magical incantations that were supposed to compile and install the drivers. They didn't. Couldn't figure out why.
Wanted to customize the shell, the way I would customize a start menu. Found out that this involved editing config files in notepad, and if I screwed up with a typo, this could potentially be a major problem. Was told I could create some safety margin by making a mirror of the config file in my user directory and editing that. For some reason, changes to the config file in my user directory were not followed by the machine.
Needed to install a VPN client. No support from my company, since I'm probably the only one who needs a Linux VPN client. I managed to get it working myself nonetheless, that was a moment of pride. However, it was much more unstable in its connection than the Windows clients I use on other computers. It would just randomly lose the connection, forcing me to redo work.
After probably around 10 hours invested in trying to make this thing work, I said screw it, and returned it and got a Windows machine.
My previous most recent attempt had involved installing Ubuntu (GG I think) on an older computer. I wanted to create a silent system, so I bought a 2GB flash drive. Ubuntu said it needed 2GB to install. It lied, it needed 2.001 GB to install, and kept dying without a good explanation of what was going on. Another few hours lost.
I will commend Linux for its improvement. I've tried it a number of times now, and in the beginning it was insanely difficult to do anything. Now it works fairly well as long as you don't try and do anything that's unanticipated. If you do, you're right back in command line magic incantation online forum land. If you can get it working, it's twice as powerful as Windows ever was, but good luck reaching that without a good mentor or LUG.
You're right, I'm sure if I poured a few hundred hours into it, I could become extremely comfortable in Linux. However, I just wasn't (and am not) willing to attempt the learning curve, not when it's this steep.
Re:Well "Works With Linux" is a feature to me (Score:1, Interesting)
Most of us don't have an all-knowing geek to call on for free, on-site, support. The Google search that returns 15,000 hits is of little help to the novice.
...yet these novices somehow 'manage to get it done' - often far more obscurely in windows. Always confounds me.
Re:Well "Works With Linux" is a feature to me (Score:3, Interesting)
In my mind, the major weakness of Puppy is that the startup sequence barfs out so much text...they felt like they had to ask me to watch over their shoulder while they started the computer, in case any warnings came up. Once past that though, everything worked great.
30% with no advertising is excellent (Score:1, Interesting)
I was surprised it was that high.
Superstores are pushing heavily against teh Linux models because the same netbooks that have windows they sell you the 99-150$ protection plan (which is antivirus and some Adaware program).
That gravy doesnt sell with Linux flavor.
Re:Well "Works With Linux" is a feature to me (Score:4, Interesting)
As mentioned in another post I originally wanted a 901 with Linux but since it wasn't available I did end up - against my better judgment - buying a 1000H. At the time I was fairly convinced I would regret this since before I had a 7 inch version and loved it for it's tiny size. But I have got to admit that - as it turned out - the 10 inch version is pretty much ideal. I think it's got more to do with keyboard than with display. The 9 inch versions simply have a keyboard that is too small - whereas the 10 inch is just exactly a size where you can type without having to readjust a lot coming from a normal laptop. Anyway - I do love my 10 inch "netbook" even though I consider it more like a real laptop and do just about anything I would have done on my trusty old thinkpad before.
Re:Well "Works With Linux" is a feature to me (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:Well "Works With Linux" is a feature to me (Score:3, Interesting)
1/2 cycle per second was the approximate speed of the Intellivision console. As far as I know it was the slowest consumer CPU-based device ever released, however since it uses 16-bit CPU it could (in theory) perform the same amount of work as the standard 8-bit CPU (6502 or 6510) at 1 megahertz.