Asus Launching Eee PC Netbooks with Ubuntu

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Kevin Parrish
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.

  • farleytron
    Yeah, a niche market for people who want to install pirated copies of windows 7 on their netbook without paying for a license on the hardware.
    Reply
  • 11796pcs
    Always nice to see a manufacturer have Ubuntu pre-installed since it eliminates the hasle of installing it and seeing if you can find drivers.
    Reply
  • -Fran-
    farleytronYeah, a niche market for people who want to install pirated copies of windows 7 on their netbook without paying for a license on the hardware.
    Like students with the MSDNAA which get those free, unpaid copies! Damn pirates! (?)

    And beware, because they're millions!!

    ...

    >_>
    Reply
  • dioxholster
    this is awesome, ubuntu is more suited for netbooks than windows.
    Reply
  • 2real
    why not give the option of kubuntu xubuntu or mint?
    Reply
  • molo9000
    farleytronYeah, a niche market for people who want to install pirated copies of windows 7 on their netbook without paying for a license on the hardware.
    Because everyone needs windows?
    There are a lot of people who only use windows because it comes preinstalled on their machines. My mum wouldn't know the difference if I installed linux on her machine. As long as there is a browser, a word processor and an email client, they're fine.

    There also are a lot of people who have a spare winXP license lying around... or students who get free Win7 Pro licenses through MSDNAA.... or students who can buy licenses for 29USD....
    Reply
  • ginnai
    No mention of a decrease in price... somewhat surprised.

    Everyone does not need Windows! The most common compatibility issue I encounter is Office based, but with the advent of Open Office... problem fixed. In terms of using highly specialized software, ie: Mathcad, SAS, Sigmaplot... perhaps, but how many people use such highly specialized software. Netbooks are not processing powerhouses, they are portable computing that is easy to transport and long lived. Linux was packaged with the original... this is barely surprising.
    Reply
  • schmich
    Should have been with an AMD E350 or E450 :(
    Reply
  • eddieroolz
    Ubuntu is nice and all that, but consumers just don't (or can't) use *NIX. The abnormally high return rates for the original netbooks showed that.
    Reply
  • My mum never noticed when I installed Linux and set it up with the same background and icons in the same location.
    Reply