Acer Bets Big On Linux 354
Stony Stevenson writes to tell us IT News is reporting that Acer is betting big on Linux, looking to push Tux on many of their upcoming laptops and netbooks. "The company is already heavily promoting Linux for its low cost ultra-portable netbook range out later this year, but senior staff have said that Acer will also push Linux on its laptops. [...] Acer sees two killer apps with Linux on computers: operation and cost. Its flavour of Linux will boot in 15 seconds compared to minutes for Windows, and the open source operating system can extend battery life from five to seven hours."
Operation and Cost? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Operation and Cost? (Score:5, Interesting)
Linux for me does not yet have a killer app, K3B (CD/DVD burner) and Amarok are better than anything in Windows, but for a start, there is nothing like Photoshop, and no killer video capture and editing software, and for some, games are important too.
Re:Operation and Cost? (Score:4, Informative)
I've found that I can throw ANY format I want at it, and it can always create OGM's, MPG's, or AVI's. No if's and's or but's from it. It just works.
Since there's multiple video decoders and renderers, I can play everything even if some video (like... video from the bad div3 hacked up codec) doesnt play on one player.
In windows world, if it crashes on 1 program, it will crash on another (since they almost all use the windows codec system).
Re:Operation and Cost? (Score:5, Interesting)
VLC's nice for handling horribly mangled video and audio frames, but mplayer is super speedy. They both have their pluses and minuses.
In Linux, I can process VLC on one machine and port the visualization to another machine (we have 1Gbps wired network here at home). I can also set up rendering jobs when the machine comes live (or from a DVB card ^_^ ).
From my knowledge, scripting Windows to do those sort of operations would be hard, if not nigh impossible. One would need a full scripting language, like bash, to do such. It would require Interix (?) to get that kind of compatibility, not to mentrion being set back by a 100$ or so... And I get that already from Linux.
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Not that I'm trying to argue for the Windows crowd, mind you, but you have two options:
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These problems go to Windows to its core. How do we change the Registry in text format so that we can guarantee that we do not corrupt it? I'm sure there's a commandline regedit somewhere, but I'd like to edit it as flat files ala
I'd like to use a Microsoft system that does not require graphical support. Where's a rich commandline for those that need no graphics (
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Meet the _winreg [python.org] Python module.
Windows 2008 Server has this, I believe.
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Therefore, I do not consider DRM stuff to even be on the market. After what Google, Microsoft and such have already proved, companies that hock such setups are guaranteed 100% unreliability rate. Are they planning to keep the license servers up for 50+ years? I doubt it.
Re:Operation and Cost? (Score:5, Informative)
Oct. 12, 2004
MSN announces the first official U.S. release of MSN Music. Microsoft also announces that MSN Music will be available in eight additional countries, creating the world's largest network of legal online music download services.
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August 31, 2008
Microsoft is ceasing support for its MSN Music service. After August 31, 2008, people who have bought music from the service will no longer be able to move that music to different computers, or even change the operating system on their current computers.
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So play's for sure... lasted slightly under 4 years. Then you have to buy it all again. And this is from an enormous multi-billion dollar corporation that is still in good financial health. Apparently Microsoft is no Sears when it comes to this kind of support.
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And our other example of DRM:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIVX [wikipedia.org]
The DIVX rental system was created in 1998 in time for the holiday season and was discontinued on June 16, 1999 due to the costs of introducing the format, as well as its very limited acceptance by the general public. Over the next two years the DIVX system was phased out. Customers could still view all their DIVX discs and were given a $100 refund for every player that was purchased before June 16, 1999. All discs that were unsold at the end of the summer of 1999 were destroyed. The program officially cut off access to accounts on July 7, 2001.
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How can consumers be so bloody stupid? They have two clear examples of perfectly good product being killed in less than 5 years by DRM so they had to buy it again. And yet they are letting governments and the entertainment industry stick it to them and even contemplate prison and unreasonable fines for trying to avoid being screwed.
Re:Operation and Cost? (Score:5, Insightful)
Ideological reasons aside, it's a major deal for such a huge OEM of Microsoft to have committed to the 'enemy' camp. And as Acer is very influential in Asia, it also means that others will likely follow suit in a 'herd' effect.
Re:Operation and Cost? (Score:5, Insightful)
ASUS + MS = true love (Score:3, Interesting)
Acer's largest rival is probubly ASUS. I wonder if the sweetheart relationship that ASUS has with MS is driving this announcement.
I predict that ASUS will keep the price of the Linux UMPC's higher than the MS ones. This will be part of the agreement with MS that saved them a ton of cash.(my speculation)
This would provide Acer an opportunity to make shure ASUS does not grab volume at the low end.
Re:Operation and Cost? (Score:4, Informative)
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Re:Operation and Cost? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Operation and Cost? (Score:4, Funny)
Hmm, I keep hearing that BSD is dying...
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Re:Operation and Cost? (Score:4, Informative)
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Re:Operation and Cost? (Score:4, Informative)
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Re:Operation and Cost? (Score:5, Interesting)
I gave both Photoshop 6 running very stable under Wine and The GIMP (sans Gimpshop) to my wife, who is a semi-professional photographer but has never used any photo editing applications and is a complete computer n00b.
I said pick the one that looks the easiest to you.
She picked The GIMP.
She's still had some learning curve, but she's also tried learning Photoshop, and that one seems just as hard to her.
Photoshop only seems easier to use because you've used it for a long time. Photoshop is difficult to work with, especially for a n00b.
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Your test proves nothing.
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Re:Operation and Cost? (Score:4, Interesting)
What? CMYK? What? (Score:4, Interesting)
RAW and 16bit TIFF...High Dynamic Range would be nice.
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I believe they made a GIMP with 32bpp support, but something as simple as drawing simple shapes is needlessly complex. Photoshop has simple tools for simple shapes.
But it IS getting there. And if GIMP does work for you, then use it!
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I recently went looking for "better" avi manipulation tools
on Windows and all I ended up with lots of crap that makes
the lesser Linux tools look brilliant and avidemux.
It seems that the work being done with Linux Multimedia is
bleeding back into Windows.
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For me, cost is the #1 "killer app." Following a close second is apt-get update && apt-get upgrade. The security, peace of mind, wide selection of applications, and community support are also huge selling points for me.
Re:Operation and Cost? (Score:5, Funny)
[/logic]
Oh, woe is you, English Language, woe is you. Torn to shreds by marketers and businessmen. Somewhere, George Orwell is crying.
[/poetic]
I'm fine with some marketing terminology abstraction, but I'd like to say , "Hey Guy! Get a dictionary!". He could have just said "killer selling points".
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I'm assuming "Operation" is a video game based on the popular board game, and "Cost" is some sort of accounting/budgeting application similar to Microsoft's "Money". Either that, or the article author doesn't know what the phrase 'killer apps' means.
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Having said that, the word is almost never interchangeable with "features" (apps can usually be called features, but it's not so clear-cut the other direction), but not necessarily the reverse), which would have been a much better word to use here.
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Let me know if that works!
Re:Operation and Cost? (Score:4, Interesting)
Micrsoft's sales were down 24% last quarter while computer sales were up 15% for the same period. The reason for this is that most of the growth in the PC industry is coming from the developing world, and those people simply aren't interested in paying money for Windows.
That leaves Acer with two choices if it wants to be a player in this new market place. It can sell hardware without Windows and rely on its customers to steal a copy. This, of course, makes it basically impossible to provide any sort of support, and it puts them in competition with the very lowest end of the product spectrum. Alternatively, it can develop its own software, based on Linux, and build a market for this software.
Partnering with Microsoft really isn't an alternative in this market. Margins are already ridiculously low and the various OEMs can simply not afford to have Microsoft be a part of the picture. Besides, Microsoft moves too slow. It's software is too big and too inflexible, and for many of these devices Windows compatibility simply isn't much of an issue.
Not to mention the fact that the EEE PC has shown everyone that Linux devices can sell, even in the first world.
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Gatorade. It's what laptops crave.
I'm not suprised (Score:3, Informative)
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Acer. Uh uhuh. (Score:4, Interesting)
I went to the Circuit City cause I had a cc from them and I get points and all. I started looking at the brands offered: Gateway, IBM, Sony, Toshiba, some noname brand I didnt recognize, and acer.
Gateway looked nice but wasnt feature laden for what I wanted (only had 1g ram).
I saw what the current IBM's looked like, but couldnt afford it at the time.. but I wanted it.
Sony: Root-kit fiasco. Hell no.
Toshiba looked nice but was a little too flimsy for my taste. It felt the cowling on the lip of the base was going to pop off.
Nonames: Had little lights in the laptop you could turn on and off in the bios. They were bargain basement cause they had as low as 512MB ram. Pass.
HP. I got suckered in buying a dv9660us because it was sleek, seemed to run nice, and had most of the ports I needed. In the end, the nice sensor bar failed for the second time and I demanded my money back. I used this money to buy a T61 decked out
Acer: Looked decent and clean. There were a lot of switches on the body turning on and off components via ACPI calls (like turn on and off wifi). There was one though... The bluetooth switch. It was on all the models but NONE HAD BLUETOOTH. How shoddy was that? The switch just sort-of glided back and forth like when a mechanical microswitch fails. This thing felt cheaper than the cheapest no-namer.
If their new line is under 300, I'd consider it. Because thats I can afford to lose.
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Will this be the year? (Score:2, Funny)
Alternate troll:
Is linux ready for the UMPC?
Operation and Cost (Score:2, Redundant)
I know Microsoft has a stable release of the latter, with good market penetration. Maybe ACER can edge in on the market for the former.
Battery Life (Score:4, Informative)
Here's the article :D (Score:2, Informative)
The company is already heavily promoting Linux for its low cost ultra-portable netbook range out later this year, but senior staff have said that Acer will also push Linux on its laptops.
Acer has already started selling Linux in its Media PC business but this should now spread, according to Gianpiero Morbello, vice president of marketing and brand at Acer.
"We have shifted towards Linux because of Microsoft," he said. "Mi
It's Inevitable! (Score:5, Interesting)
Before the M$ bash fest starts let's make this clear. These companies are not using Linux distros because they hate Microsoft or any of that other nonsense. It is purely a financial decision. They can make more money with Linux while at the same time offer the consumers a product that can be judged by its functionality and other merits. Not by a third party having their branding all over it.
If these companies could make more money using M$ operating systems, they would in a hearbeat.
Ok... now that we are clear, The Ubuntu fan boi in me wants say. Sweet it's finally the year of the Linux DeskTo... Lapto... NetBook?
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Making more money, or with a lower price point tapping into a new market of buyers ? At $150 - $250 it can temp f
hmm. (Score:4, Interesting)
"Microsoft's operating system typically costs around £50 per unit," said David Drummond, UK managing director at Acer. "On a £1,000 PC that is peanuts, but on a £200 computer it is a major issue."
that is until MS reduces the price of windows (OPLC) send in the big guns (Ballmer, Gates) or tries a underhand tactic like target the large corporate buyers. with a sack full of cash and a lot to use expect them to utilise every dirty drink in the book.
though, on balance, I think the winds are turning on this issue, and frankly - its about bloody time.
disclaimer? me & linux - eight years and counting.
Ambiguous statement alert. (Score:2)
"... the open source operating system can extend battery life from five to seven hours"
Does this mean that it can extend the life of the battery between five and seven hours LONGER than normal, or does it mean that it can extend the life of a battery that otherwise would last five hours to seven?
The former is really good to hear. The latter has me wondering... which laptops normally can get 5 hours of use from a battery? I'm lucky if I get 2 on mine.
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My Toshiba Libretto managed it.
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It's a trick! (Score:2, Funny)
Microsoft!
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Example,I do not see a difference between Dell and Acer. Both have decent hardware most of the time, often crappy customer support.
I have had such good experience with Acer as of late, that on Dec 27, I bought two well optioned Laptops at $499 each. The slightly better spec'd one was a Toshiba, and the other an Acer.
When I got home a week later, I sold the Toshiba to my cousin, and KEPT the Acer. YMMV
Tux? (Score:4, Funny)
That's GNU/Tux to you, freedom hater!
It makes a lot of sense, surprised people noticed (Score:4, Interesting)
On a laptop, Linux makes sense because if it has nothing to do, it sleeps. Windows, like rust, never sleeps. CPUs really do run cooler on Linux with a lower load.
Linux is free. It can be adjusted to fit your hardware. OpenOffice.org has ODF and it is an undisputed ISO standard. Linux plays nice on almost all networks.
Why WOULDN'T a company put this OS on a laptop?
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It might have something to do with
Re:It makes a lot of sense, surprised people notic (Score:4, Insightful)
I haven't seen any credible study or statistic that indicates that people want windows.
People may be used to it, but they don't *choose* it, per se' People *choose* Macintosh, but since Microsoft has a monopoly, one can only view a windows purchase as acceptance of the default.
When we have real competition in the market place, we can start studying what people really want.
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It is not a useful use of anyone's time to debate an issue long decided with a person who does not accept facts.
boot time comparison? (Score:2)
the toshiba will be filled with crapware that bogs down startup. if its a fresh windows install, this wouldnt be the case.
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The company has to load a crapload of demoware for the advertisement kickbacks in order to synchronize the cost of a Linux vs Windows install. The comparison is the boot time with equal cost (to the vendor) OSs installed.
Laptops without a sleep function (Score:2)
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Once all the manufacturers start producing Linux Computers, we are going to see driver/chipset compatibility issues going away forever. To stay in business every chipset and board manufacturer will have to produce documentation for Linux devs or produce the drivers themselves.
Will Acer change directions and reap the cash? (Score:5, Interesting)
1. Acer will stay the course, and refuse incentives from MS.
2. MS will give Acer such a good deal that they will announce "it turns out that Linux was a bad fit for most of our product line".
We will now see what kink of company Acer is.
Acer Extensa 5420 (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:do what now? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:do what now? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Thanks god for Ubuntu...
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It's most likely the third-party apps causing that. I mean, 4 - 5 minutes? That's insane.
My Acer laptop boots to a login prompt within about 30 seconds, and once I'm there, I'm only about 5 - 10 seconds away from using my computer.
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Re:do what now? (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, perhaps these notebooks won't have hardware powerful enough to boot Vista in less than a few minutes.
Besides, Linux can be tweaked. Acer may tweak both the kernel and the userland to optimize it just for their hardware; they would not be able to do that with Windows of any flavor.
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a simple reconfiguration of the standard kernel shipped with ubuntu to remove all the unneccessary drivers, schedulers and other shit reduced the time from GRUB menu to the KDM login screen from 1.5 min to less than a minute.
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Re:do what now? (Score:4, Interesting)
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My AthlonXP 3200 2.2Ghz w/ 1GB of ram boots XP in a little over 1 minute, from a cold boot.
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Re:do what now? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:do what now? (Score:4, Interesting)
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When I had it running under Vista (when it left the factory), it was about 1m30 to boot. Under XP MCE 2005, it was about 1m15... I still dual boot with XP, because the bluetooth control software for my Nokia phone is XP-only, and because some of the games I play do not work under WINE.
A lot of what goes into determining your boot time is factors
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I usually just put my notebook to sleep instead of shutting it down. (the only times I shut it down are for system updates and stuff). So, it's "instant-on" for me.... but then again I have an Apple notebook. But I suspect it's the same with most other notebooks.
Even on my Dell desktop (running Ubuntu 8.04), it only takes 3-4 seconds to wake up from sleep.
Re:do what now? (Score:5, Interesting)
Since the notebooks are low-end, we expect them to have relatively poorer specs. So, Windows (and everything) will take longer to boot--a minute seems reasonable. They are arguing that because they custom-tailored Linux to the hardware specifications, and because of inherent advantages in the Linux model, it boots more quickly. Sounds fine to me!
Is it an Acer? (Score:2)
Trust me... boot-time was not pretty on that machine.
Acer is likely shooting for the upper-low-end consumer (those that want a semi-fast CPU, more than say an "eeePC", but still skimp on many details), and their machines as they come simply don't run well with bulky operati
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The only time I see a reboot is when windows update requires it... (and even then I don't really feel it, since I reboot the machine when I'm going to bed)
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Re:do what now? (Score:5, Insightful)
The thing I notice about Windows is that it *looks* like it is up and running, but it takes another minute or two before it actually does anything.
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It's nice to see that you only need a quadcore to boot more than twice slowly (remember those 14s included the time to startup and autologin into the equivalent of KDE or Gnome).
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The Aspire One is similar in spec to the Eee 900, and costs less than the Eee 701. SOLD.