Splashtop, sub-laptops, Linux and Windows

One of the great things about the little EEE PC is how quickly the thing boots up when you switch it on. Just a few seconds. The PC in my study is so slow ( especially since I downloaded the new upgrade to the virus checker - ha !) that I generally turn it on as I hop in the shower. That way I don"t end up sitting there listening to the rattling of the hard drive. I need to do some serious tuning on that PC.

Anyway, two bits of computer news caught my attention this morning:

Firstly that Asus are now putting a really small version of Linux in flash memory on their mother-boards ( Splashtop / Express Gate ) The idea is that within seconds of you turning on the power to your PC you can check your mail, access online applications, use Skype, do what you need to via wifi internet. If you need to use your hard disk on your machine you start your operating system (and have a quick shower while it starts up...)

Secondly Windows is now being supplied with the OLPC $100 laptop project. They've negotiated a price of (I think) $3 to put XP on the things.

Could it be that the tide is turning in personal computing and that the gigahertz and gigabytes race is being overtaken by the use of online services and software ?

Could it be that Microsoft are concerned at the upsurge of interest in Linux ?

Naaaaah .

Comments

minternational said…
Of course, you could also just use a nifty smartphone to check email & various websites and skype, too....but not whilst in the shower, mind.
10:45 am
Alan said…
Yeah, but mobile telephony is still expensive in France compared to Britain.
11:16 am
digit said…
...and it still can be pretty expensive in Britain.
3:37 am
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