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- kd420, on 04/16/2009, -10/+76That MS blogger sounds like a tool: "When they realize their Linux-based netbook PC doesn't deliver that same quality of experience, they get frustrated and take it back."
Translation: "When they realize that they have no idea what Linux is, and can't click an .exe to install something they get frustrated and take it back." Windows "quality of experience" is pretty bad from a neutral view of things, it only dominates because people have only used it before. - hackmeister, on 04/16/2009, -15/+45The MS blogger is just a paid lackey. Nothing surprising. A lot of people are loving their Linux netbooks.
- GeneralMonoxide, on 04/16/2009, -6/+30Yeah, I got an ASUS EeePC back in December and it came with Windows XP, but I removed it the next day and put Ubuntu on it. Many people HAVE to buy netbooks with Windows so some comments made are unfair.
- benologist, on 04/17/2009, -10/+30And yet he's right. People don't care about linux they just want to turn their computer on and go back to what they're doing the way they're accustomed to doing it. A computer's just a tool that they have painfully and slowly become used to, they don't share anyone's philosophy or theology, they don't hate Microsoft or care about being able to edit source. They just want to sign in, fire up AIM, Yahoo, MSN Messengers, check their Hotmail or Yahoo mail, fire up iTunes to play their music etc.
There's absolutely no incentive to work through all the steps required to find and learn alternatives to *every* piece of software they use. It's a tedius process and if they stick it out all it does is eventually get them right back where they started.... or close to. You might as well expect them to park 10 miles from their home and walk the rest of the way and then wonder why they don't. - inactive, on 04/17/2009, -3/+21While Linux isn't perfect, when it comes to lower end hardware, Windows has nothing on it. My XP2000+ server has been happily running Ubuntu since 7.04. I can count on my hand how many times the whole system has crashed (not counting application crashes) and the user interface is simplified with each revision. One of the biggest remaining barriers for Linux on the desktop isn't Linux itself, but vendors who refuse to publish their drivers in either binary format or source code. Those with Powerbook G4 / airport cards know what I mean.
- wewa, on 04/16/2009, -4/+19Yes, this is exactly what I HAD to do.
XP while still my favorite OS, is not optimized for SSD drives, so it was 'return to store' unusably slow.
But I got them on closeout $199 for 3 netbooks, that I tried Easy Peasy Ubuntu on them and its actually great!
Firefox, Ad-Block, Gmail, Flash, Quicktime, KeyholeTV, Livestation, aMSN messenger and more.
Wi-Fi, trackpad, webcam, all working.
No antivirus needed. Fast smooth, easy.
I have a 9 year old and a 70 year old using them.
For me, following Linux since the early Red Hat days, Linux has finally turned the page, and is not just for servers anymore. - B1665r, on 04/17/2009, -16/+28Who cares why they take it back, that does not matter. It is up to linux to adjust to the users expectations, not the other way around. If the distro makers want to fix it all they have to do is include a handy set of scripts that run the proper apt-get script to meet users needs. Individual software projects could even include the script for various distros on their web page, then all the noob linux user needs to do is go to the web page and click install, and then it all just works.
Quit making excuses for Linux, and fix it, so it works the way users expect. - antidense, on 04/17/2009, -4/+16I replaced WinXP with Ubuntu on my HP mini. There's no way I could fit all the programs (backup, email programs, office suite, anti-virus scanner, developer programs) I would need with windows on this 16GB SSD drive. Plus, Ubuntu netbook remix 9.04 provides a nice interface that takes up minimal screen space. It's also so much easier with a package manager installing many things at once and I can't live without Gnome-Do.
- raldz, on 04/17/2009, -3/+14When I bought my Asus EeePC 1000HE, the very first thing I did was removed Windows and installed Linux (Ubuntu using EXT4 file system).. even if Ubuntu 9.04 is still in beta no complaints from me... works fine... so, not because it shipped with Windows doesn't mean it will stay with Windows..
- johnchr, on 04/17/2009, -1/+11I had to get my Eee 901 online here in Australia (and had to wait a couple of weeks on back order) as ASUS had done a deal to only supply Windows XP-based Eee machines to the retailers. You really have to want a Linux based netbook and hunt for it in specialist IT shops or buy it online because you won't find it in the usual retailers. I believe that a senior ASUS exec was quoted back last August as saying that they had "a business relationship to maintain" (i.e. with Microsoft) when asked at a press launch about restricting sale of Eee netbooks to Windows XP versions in the retail outlets.
- khedoros, on 07/31/2009, -1/+11With a netbook? I highly doubt that they want to watch DVDs!
- mrsteveman1, on 04/17/2009, -1/+10I don't know if you realize this, but Suse and Ubuntu already have that ability.
I'm not as familiar with the Ubuntu apt-url system, but in Suse you can click a link in a web browser, and have the package manager launch, add an arbitrary package resource and install the requested packages. That's BETTER than telling people to download exes and run them. If no one takes advantage of the systems already in place, well then it isn't the distros fault is it. - MacSuxWindozSux, on 04/17/2009, -3/+12It also doesn't help that 95% of the software they might purchase is made for Windows. Not that there aren't great alternatives, someone who doesn't know anything about computers and isn't looking to learn isn't going to have patience for that sort of thing.
- Kyrgizion, on 04/17/2009, -1/+10I'm afraid it's true. I've been trying to find a decent one and consistently the ONLY models that stores offer equipped with Linux are the very lowest-tier ones. And even those are becoming increasingly hard to find.
This alone is putting me off buying one. Manufacturers should have learned to offer their customers choice by now. (I'm also looking in your direction, Gates!) - Arsenard, on 04/17/2009, -0/+9Sold as .. is not an indicator. I had trouble getting mine with Linux. Settled for a windows version and re-slammed' the box. :) Soooo my purchase was erroneously tabulated .. how many others??
- FairDinkumMate, on 04/17/2009, -0/+8I'm guessing you have a mirror where they see their own ass....
- Megatog615, on 04/17/2009, -1/+9I take an external hard drive with me to college so I can reboot into Debian to get a *usable* development environment. People look over and see GNOME and go "wtf lol".
- quarando, on 04/17/2009, -4/+12That's fine, I wouldn't buy a Windows netbook.
- Khast, on 04/17/2009, -1/+8I've had Wi-Fi on Ubuntu running from a fresh installation. I don't know what the problem everyone else has been having. The Atheros wireless/ethernet card, I would have figured wouldn't have been seen as Windows can't even detect it without manually installing drivers first. (No the card doesn't autodetect as new hardware.)
- Ouze, on 04/17/2009, -1/+8Yes, it has nothing at all to do with (here's a quote I imagine you skimmed and pretended wasn't there)
"The laptop maker shipped the machines without proper configuration for hardware features like the webcam and WiFi. Friedman suggested that technical problems of this nature are inevitable in what is arguably the first large-scale Linux rollout. Indeed, technical problems of this nature are not entirely isolated to MSI. I ran into a few problems—though nothing quite of that magnitude—with my Linux-based Dell Mini 9." - khedoros, on 07/31/2009, -4/+11"adjust to users' expectations", for most users, would mean perfect emulation of Windows. If I want to use Windows, I do. If I want something with different capabilities, I'll use Linux. Why would I, or any customer, want two systems that work exactly the same? Let them each have their strongpoints.
- jaxontyler, on 04/17/2009, -6/+13First thing I did when i got my EEE 1000H is took XP off of it. Windows is the inferior system by far, especially for a programming student.
- pHr34kY, on 04/17/2009, -3/+10Users only hit problems with Linux when they try to do it the 'Windows way'. If they RTFM, they'll find that Linux can do it, and has a different way of doing it. In general, Linux has a better way of doing it.
How much difficulty did you have the last time you were on Windows, and wanted to install the update to every single application and driver on your system? Was it a good waste of 8 hours? You can do the same in Linux in 2 minutes. - TheInfamousOne, on 04/17/2009, -2/+8Pidgin will run all your chat programs and Open Office works great too.
- dtfinch, on 04/17/2009, -5/+11I was saddened and a little bit angered (though have seen no specific evidence of foul play) when I looked in Newegg's netbook section and saw 42 Windows netbooks vs 3 Linux netbooks.
- fuzzybad, on 04/17/2009, -2/+8How is that a gimmick? Netbooks generally have quite a few hardware differences from a standard PC, that's why installing standard Ubuntu is hard to set up. The forum advice to install a netbook-tweaked distro was a good one.
- PhairOh, on 04/17/2009, -0/+6Whoa whoa whoa... let me get this straight...
Microsoft is saying that Windows has dominance and Canonical is saying that Linux is quite strong.
These revelations are incredible! - majkeli, on 04/17/2009, -1/+7"Canonical, the company behind the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution, says that Linux still has strong prospects on little laptops."
What did they expect a company that makes money from Linux to say? - FairDinkumMate, on 04/17/2009, -0/+5Oh my god! Fancy someone suggesting that you use an OS specifically designed for your hardware - how dare they!
Have you written to Apple to complain that their I-phone software won't run on the Windows Mobile OS on your phone?
MORON! - fuzzybad, on 04/17/2009, -3/+8This comment posted using a netbook running Ubuntu-eee.
- pHr34kY, on 04/17/2009, -0/+5I got an Acer Aspire one with Linux.
It was packaged with Linpus. It was rubbish, and somewhat poorly configured. Installed Ubuntu within 3 days of having it (after bricking Linpus twice). Also, the latest Ubuntu Jaunty works with it out of the box. Can tweak one or two things for SSD performance, but not much.
That said, if I didn't have a CS degree under my belt, I probably would have returned it. It was just awful. - fuzzybad, on 04/17/2009, -1/+6There are open source replacements for all those programs. But you probably already knew that.
- Paulish, on 04/17/2009, -0/+5"The rumors about my death are greatly exaggerated." -Tux...
Or maybe that was Mark Twain... Oh well! - Cowchip7, on 04/17/2009, -1/+6I bought the mini 9 with ubuntu preloaded. Although I will most likely download 9.04, Dell's version would be great for linux beginners. Everything worked right out of the box. Moreover, Dell included all the necessary codecs needed for music, video, web surfing, etc. Can
t beat that! (The base unit was only $199). - carolinaws, on 04/17/2009, -5/+9Whatever, trolls. Knock EasyPeasy ("Ubuntu Eee") all you want. I LOVE EasyPeasy running on my Asus Eee PC 900 HA that I have used the last 3 weeks. I installed IE7 on it (with Wine 1.1.4) to test pages we develop. You can remove the launcher and Maximus if you want a regular Ubuntu installation. Zimbra Client, Zend Studio, Zend Server, Komodo, Filezilla, Konqueror -- all installed on here without a hitch. The Eee has allowed me to leave my "big" laptop at the office and deal with urgent issues in just over 2 lbs.
Make fun if you want but EasyPeasy is great for Netbooks. - FairDinkumMate, on 04/17/2009, -0/+4That you even know that Facebook slows the system = FAIL!!!
- TheZorch, on 04/17/2009, -5/+9Netbook manufacturers are looking at the ARM processor to replace the Intel Atom processor. The ARM chip is just as fast, perhaps a bit more powerful, but uses a quarter of the power so battery life will be much greater. Also, there are no Windows versions that run on the ARM processor, but nearly all Linux distros have an ARM version and one from Ubuntu is coming.
- st1710, on 04/17/2009, -2/+6Help them! I have a small but growing pool of converts. I get two or three frantic 'don't know how it works' calls and then they get used to the UI and fall in love. Ubuntu in particular is a thing of beauty. A few teaks after the installation - maybe a hour of work - and a total novice and technophobe can be utterly happy. In many ways it is vastly better for those people. No viruses to worry about, no licensing and their requirements are usually pretty simple. Web. Mail. Chat. Perfect for you mom - nothing she can break - easy for you to securely remote manage. We can slowly fill the world with Linux lovers.
- klco, on 04/17/2009, -2/+6My retard CS school required us to use MS Visual Studio, but otherwise I completely agree.
- Ouze, on 04/17/2009, -2/+6"Last year, when we explored the reasons behind the high return rate of the SLED-powered MSI Wind, we talked with Nat Friedman, Novell's chief Linux technology officer, who said that he was not aware of the actual return rate"
Well, that makes sense. MSI reports high return rates on linux based laptops, so you interview some guy from Novell, who says he doesn't know (but then makes some guesses). Nice reporting, guy.
"The laptop maker shipped the machines without proper configuration for hardware features like the webcam and WiFi."
Seriously, what the ***** is with Linux and wireless? I've used on and off Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Sabayon, Mandriva, and Mint, and on every single one, on 4 different machines, there is invariable some goddamn problem with the wireless. Why can't open source master this technology that was standard by Windows 95??? - infectaphibian, on 04/17/2009, -4/+8Crunchbang linux and xubuntu perform much better on my EeePC than XP. Not to mention that XP is just old and boring at this point.
- Khast, on 04/17/2009, -1/+5@Ouze
Poorly? I had better speeds than I ever got running WindowsXP (The OEM install on the computer, which the card just so happened to be installed at the factory.)
I had 256Kbps Down 80Kbps Up under Ubuntu
Highest I have ever seen under Windows has been 186Kbps down 60Kbps up. - FKnight, on 04/17/2009, -5/+9I returned my Dell Mini 9 with Ubuntu on it and bought an eeepc with Windows on it because I wanted to run AIM, Yahoo Messenger, and MSN messenger. My Office 2007 EULA also says I can run Office 2007 on my netbook *and* my desktop PC with the same license. This was a freaking no brainer. rdesktop also doesn't support RDP Gateway Servers. Screw that noise.
- protogenxl, on 04/16/2009, -3/+7That won't happen till they drop the cockamamie hardware restrictions.
- volcompimp, on 04/17/2009, -1/+5Maybe it's just because Im runnin a 701 but I can't see how anyone would WANT to run windows on it.
- Coven, on 04/17/2009, -1/+5I dual boot XP and Eeebuntu on my EeePC 1000HE. I love both operating systems and they each have their benefits.
- rockstar1o9, on 04/17/2009, -1/+5I ordered my Dell Mini 9 with Ubuntu and I found it alright for browsing the web, chatting, etc. (I've used Ubuntu before, exclusively on my desktop for the most part of 2008) If I was going to stick with Linux, I'd probably switch to Linux Mint which seems to be better designed for netbooks.
I also tried giving the Win7 beta a whirl and I gotta admit, I was pretty impressed. I'm far from a MS fanboy, but it ran quick and flawlessly. Quite possibly even better than the slipstreamed XP Pro I also tried out. - BoneheadFarker, on 04/17/2009, -0/+4@stutimandal
You picked a version to use, had some problems, asked some people and got a good answer...use the customized version of Ubuntu specifically designed for EeePCs instead. Do you think other laptops are any different? Dells have so much special hardware that they provide their own version of Windows. Most big laptop companies do this. Ever try installing a base copy of XP onto a Dell laptop? Nothing works. You have to go hunting down drivers for 3 days to get anything going.
Whine all you want that Linux is not Windows, but don't try to make it seem that Windows "just works"... - FairDinkumMate, on 04/17/2009, -0/+3MOST users never install anything with regard to hardware, they just use what comes pre-installed on their system.
When companies like MSI are sending out any machines(regardless of the OS) without Wi-Fi &/or Webcam support, there is obviously a huge issue at that company! If the company can't configure their own hardware with the OS that they are installing on the machine, then either the OS hardware support is crap(proven untrue as users were able to install the hardware on these netbooks) or the company is employing some seriously average staff.
Ndswrapper isn't the solution to this issue, hardware vendors producing(or at least providing specs to let others produce!) native Linux drivers is what will help Linux go mainstream. Please remember, the Linux kernel supports significantly more hardware than Windows Vista! - HonestAbeinator, on 04/17/2009, -0/+3I was tracking the prices for a while before I bought mine. Sometimes the xp version is cheaper, sometimes they are the same price and sometimes the xp is more expensive. I guess it depends on the time of month or something. Anyway, I don't think too many people are doing that; the savings (if you get them) aren't really worth ***** around with a new os.
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