-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Out and about with the Acer Aspire One and Ubuntu 9.04 ,----[ Quote ] | One of the funny things about the AA1 (and probably most netbooks right now) | is how often when I am using it out and about at someplace like Starbucks or | Taco Bell that people stop and ask me questions about it. | | * How well does it work? | * Which one do you have? | * Did you look at any others? | * Are you glad you got it? | * Was it worth the price | * How well does Linux work on it? | * Can you really use Linux to replace Windows? `---- http://on-being-open.blogspot.com/2009/05/out-and-about-with-acer-aspire-one-and.html Recent: Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.04 hands-on ,----[ Quote ] | Sure, Ubuntu haters won't go near it, but everyone else with a netbook needs | to give UNR a try because we think you won't be disappointed. `---- http://www.tuxradar.com/content/ubuntu-netbook-remix-904-hands Netbook market? What netbook market? ,----[ Quote ] | Today's 'default' netbook, from a name-brand vendor, delivers quasi-desktop | functionality, costs as much as that vendor's (now non-existent) lower-cost | notebooks/laptops, ie in the US$500 range, and we have the tier-1 name brand | vendors perpetually pushing the price further uphill, introducing pointless | feature-creep to justify this price-hike. | | [...] | | So, how does Linux lose in this market? In short, it doesn't - the 'netbook | market' has instead morphed into something else: it's become the 'smaller | form-factor notebook' market. And in this market, Microsoft has traditionally | held a 95% slice (in the OEM, non-Apple realm). | | Therefore, what we have here is not so much a case of Linux losing ground in | the netbook market, but of Microsoft and OEM hardware partners reshaping the | market into "the same ol', same ol'". It has become a market where Microsoft | has substantial monopoly market advantages, dating back to 1981, and where it | has honed substantial, oft-times illegal anti-competitive market capture | machinery. | | And yet, even in this market, now reshaped to favour Microsoft's monopoly | machinery, Linux still snared 24% of 'netbook' shipments. `---- http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10012665o-2000630136b,00.htm 8 Features of Ubuntu Remix for Netbooks ,----[ Quote ] | If you own a netbook and want to run Linux based distro Ubuntu in it, | Canonical has offered a great version for this. Here are some of the features | that you would like to know before you go for it... `---- http://www.2indya.com/2009/04/23/8-features-of-ubuntu-remix-for-netbooks/ Ballmer: GNU/Linux Will Win on Netbooks ,----[ Quote ] | I think this is a very frank analysis of the problem for Microsoft: after | all, who's going to pay extra money just to get the Windows logo on a | netbook, when they can get the same features for less with free software...? `---- http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2009/03/ballmer-gnulinux-will-win-on-netbooks.html Netbooks Open Linux Window at BETT ,----[ Quote ] | On the same stand a large screen showed off the design appeal of the latest | Ubuntu. This includes multiple windows rotating or rescaling. As this is | better understood some Netbook users may return to Linux. Asustek Chairman | Jonney Shih has predicted that about 60 percent of Eee PCs to be shipped in | 2009 will have Windows XP. `---- http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=384681&rel_no=1&back_url= math: Windows 7 + netbook = failure - GNU/Linux as remaining winner! ,----[ Quote ] | Windows XP is basically gone, so an OEM license is worth 20 USD for a | manufacturer, no problem at all. Windows 7 for Netbooks is the same as all | other Windows 7 variants - no lean, light, vlighted, 7lited or whatever. Just | a Starter version like in Windows Vista which gives you the "power" to run | maximum 3 applications at the same time. Where again is the advantage? Oh | yes, now Windows 7 Starter crippled edition costs a bit more than 20 USD for | OEM, I would say around 99 USD after discounts, tax not included or did you | think MS stops earning money? `---- http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10012288o-2000637757b,00.htm Otellini: Windows 7 Upgrade for Netbooks Will Be Tough' ,----[ Quote ] | Microsoft has a challenge: Sell a Windows upgrade as a way to save money. | | The company's fourth quarter Windows revenue declined 8 percent, as PC buyers | opted for lower-priced netbooks that run either Windows XP or Linux, rather | than the higher-priced Windows Vista operating system, which does not run on | netbook hardware. `---- http://www.pcworld.com/article/160967/windows7_netbooks.html?tk=rss_news Reports: Microsoft Cripples Windows 7 Starter Edition in Hopes of Netbook Upgrades ,----[ Quote ] | With Windows 7 Microsoft is releasing cheap versions of its OS for netbooks, | but faces the challenge of getting customers to buy pricier versions `---- http://www.dailytech.com/Reports+Microsoft+Cripples+Windows+7+Starter+Edition+in+Hopes+of+Netbook+Upgrades/article14532.htm Microsoft’s Windows 7 May Not Cure Netbook Headache ,----[ Quote ] | This time, as Microsoft readies Windows 7, the company is planning a basic | version, as well as more expensive editions that are also targeted at | netbooks. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said last week that he will make sure | consumers can “trade up.” | | ‘Pessimistic’ | | Many netbook buyers won’t go for it, because they want the cheapest option | possible, said John DiFucci, the JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst who asked the | question that prompted Ballmer’s comment. That means investors shouldn’t | expect Microsoft to make much more money on netbook software, the New | York-based analyst said in a note to clients. Microsoft hasn’t released | specific prices for the different versions of Windows 7. | | “I don’t know that there’s much room to charge more than what’s been charged | currently,” said Michael Cherry, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft in | Kirkland, Washington. “I’m pessimistic about this.” `---- http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=ahmXCOAixVMw&refer=us Moblin V2 vs. Ubuntu Netbook Remix vs. Ubuntu MID ,----[ Quote ] | Last week Intel had pushed out a second alpha release of Moblin V2 and now it | boots even faster, which means they are down to the point of being able to | boot in just a few seconds. Beyond a very quick boot process, they have | already incorporated kernel mode-setting and other newer Linux/X.Org | technologies while also working to build a desktop environment around the | Clutter OpenGL tool-kit. Moblin is certainly turning into an interesting | Intel creation, but how does its performance compare to other mobile-focused | Linux distributions? We have benchmarked Moblin V2 Alpha 2 and compared it | against what is likely their biggest competitor in the mobile space, Ubuntu | Netbook Remix, and the LPIA-based Ubuntu MID edition. Which of these mobile | operating systems is the fastest? We hope to find out today. `---- http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=moblin_ubuntu_mobile&num=1 What next for the netbook? ,----[ Quote ] | Price-wise I'd say that high-end netbooks are perhaps getting too far away | from the initial premise of a small, cheap companion. These days the high-end | models cost at least $900. Kogan Technologies is set to shake things up with | its $499 10-inch netbook running gOS - a flavour of Linux designed to play | nicely with Google services. I'm wondering if this will put pressure on other | netbook makers to get back to basics and release a stripped-down 10 inch | netbook to compete at around the $500 mark. Such a price war would certainly | see netbooks take off again. `---- http://digihub.smh.com.au/node/422 Microsoft, FUD and the netbook market ,----[ Quote ] | Brandon Le Blanc from Microsoft posted an interesting post about Netbooks and | Linux last week. While we agreed with his comments about customers wanting | choice and looking for outstanding hardware options, we disagree with much of | his analysis and unsurprisingly the overall ’spin’ of the post. | | While FLOSS software has been improving year on year, the launch of the Asus | eeePC with Linux in late 2007 sparked a extraordinary chain of events. We saw | an increase in the number of models of computers shipping with Linux, the | acceleration of the PC industry’s knowledge of how to work in a non-Windows | environment and the repeated extension of XP’s shipping life. `---- http://blog.canonical.com/?p=151 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAkn/a/UACgkQU4xAY3RXLo5VtwCfXRoVcANU6lKWWUKpXTMYRLVA RDEAn1S3EKtdACul00oYwRwie9kp9/xo =fEwz -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----