In Australia, XP Cheaper Than Linux On Eee 900 319
KrispyDollars writes "It sounds crazy to say this, but the XP-based version of the Eee PC 900 (the new version with the 8.9" screen) will actually be considerably cheaper than the Linux-based version. At the official launch today, the company told journalists that 'Microsoft has been a longstanding supporter of Asus' to explain the price discrepancy. And — get this — only the XP-based machine will be sold at mass-market retailers, while the Linux-based model will be consigned to computer stores."
Forget the cost of production (Score:1, Insightful)
Besides which it probably cost them more to implement it than MS since I bet they had to hire an entire Engineering staff, at least one FTE plus support folks.
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:How? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Forget the cost of production (Score:0, Insightful)
Every new thing on the horizon has been proclaimed to be the downfall of Microsoft. Cheap PCs, no way they'll be able to compete with Linux on those! They've now been added to the failure pile alongside handheld devices, Live CDs, servers, the desktop in general, laptops in general, any kind of office software you might imagine, etc etc.
So be easy. This is yet another sad day in a long series of sad days.
In my country, we call that dumping (Score:4, Insightful)
Crapware? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Forget the cost of production (Score:5, Insightful)
It's all about public perception. The Linux machine can't run Windows apps (at least I don't think WINE's included, and WINE's never a good answer to that problem anyway.) Therefore, it's worse in many people's eyes.
So, now, the Linux machine is more expensive, and perceived to be worse.
This is not good if you want Linux to succeed in the marketplace.
Linux always cheaper than Windows (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't have to waste time scanning for malware constantly or defragging my linux box, so I save time.
I don't have to buy additional commercial software and pay for license keys or trust closed binary warezed alternatives.
In the long run, no matter how much you pay in the store, Linux saves you money and time.
And I don't support a convicted monopoly who has a history of criminal activities across the globe.
A herring incarnadine... (Score:5, Insightful)
Red herring. This isn't about us, it's about Microsoft buying market share.
asus moves toward obscurity (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Awesome! That means a less-expensive Linux mode (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:12 GB HDD Vs 20 GB HDD (Score:5, Insightful)
If you want to buy a cheapo WRT54Gv5 version of the wireless router, you get it packed with VxWorks, some kind of crappy and proprietary OS installed in DLink routers. If you want to have a stable and reliable router, you go with the WRT54GL (L for Linux), which is the "deluxe" Linux version.
Re:How? (Score:5, Insightful)
To me, the whole point of the eee is that it finally lets linux and windows have an unbiased competition with the market for judge: people won't just keep windows because it's preinstalled ( except of course taking linux still means "switching" to something less familliar).
If I was australian and wanted to buy one, I'd throw in the extra cash to show that linux users exist as a demographic.
Re:Linux (Score:5, Insightful)
IMHO, the biggest reason is to give a clear message that you don't want Windows. People are scrapping their default Windows installs for Linux all the time, but this won't change the huge market share of Windows, which in turn affects hardware and software makers.
Re:Hear hear (Score:4, Insightful)
I am concerned that those unfamiliar with Linux will see this and conclude that Linux is expensive rather than
MS has done a good job of making Windows look like the best choice, and IMO this should be investigated using lawyers and stuff as it makes no sense whatsoever if you look at it from the point of view that MS would never stoop to any dirty tricks. Of course, if you are even a tiny bit cynical you can't help but see that this is obviously a questionable business deal that needs to be investigated by those that would destroy monopolies.
Re:End Twitter Posts Now (Score:0, Insightful)
You think nothing wrong when the XP model can be offered at a LOWER price than the Linux one? Just bcos you say so, we should believe in the good intentions of Microsoft and Asus?
The Slashdot community thrives on debate, so don't try to impose your views as gospel truth.
Thank you.
Re:12 GB HDD Vs 20 GB HDD (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:12 GB HDD Vs 20 GB HDD (Score:5, Insightful)
1.(The Apple way) Be able to control everything, from the metal to the display. If you can make everything the way you want it to be, you can make things work by design.
2. (The Microsoft way) Be able to contol everyone, from the hardware manufacturers to the software developers. If you can make everybody make things the way you want them to be, you can make things work by fiat.
3. (The F/OSS way) Be able to know everything, from the hardware registers to the software code. If you know everything about the components you use, you can make things work by hacking.
The reason RMS is so adamant about making things free is because we, as end users, have no other way to make them work for us.
Find the holes!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:How? (Score:4, Insightful)
And this demonstrates that we will never have unbiased (or fair) competition as long as one of the competitors is Microsoft.
So play 'em at their own game. Hold installfests in the parking lots of places selling the things. Whoop it up. FOSS isn't driven by "market share," it's driven by the passion of its developers and users. It isn't going anywhere.
Microsoft may be able to point at some meaningless marketing numbers and say "see, people are choosing Windows, even when Linux is more expensive" and I bet some PHBs will even think that statement makes sense. Doesn't matter, Microsoft will run out of money eventually and FOSS will still be there.
Re:Awesome! That means a less-expensive Linux mode (Score:3, Insightful)
Not to mention the battery hit.
Re:Find the holes!!! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:How? (Score:3, Insightful)
You can pitch it as "Hey, you can upgrade your Eee to Linux for *free*!". People love free stuff.
Re:As an early adopter of the Eee PC (Score:5, Insightful)
"Commitment" to Linux? Are you serious?
ASUS are a for-profit corporation. They're going to do whatever it takes to sell the most computers at the greatest profit. In the case of the Eee, they found that they could sell a computer without windows as long as it was extremely inexpensive.
If Microsoft offers an incentive to bundle Windows with their entry-level laptop, Asus are going to take it, as it adds value to their product. They'd be stupid not to.
Note here that you can still very easily install linux on the Windows machine, and that the Linux model is only $50AUD extra, and includes 8gb extra flash storage (which is probably easily worth the $50 extra to most customers).
Re:Forget the cost of production (Score:4, Insightful)
Almost everything they do is web-based and no-one's going to bat an eye once they're told that OpenOffice is $0, works almost exactly like MS Office and can open/save to MS Office documents without a hitch. (Sure, there are exceptions to that, but average consumer isn't going to run into those obscure issues.)
The average consumer might even get outright excited when you mention that merely using Firefox on Xandros gives them better protection from virii and malware than XP, even if they'd paid for a copy of Norton or McAfee. (And without the slowdowns, compatibility problems and hassle of those packages)
And since the eee PC is an intensely personal sort of kit, it's doubtful that Joe or Jane Six-pack is going to pass on it just because it won't supplant the family PC that their kids run games on.
The eee PC simply doesn't have to match up to XP like desktop linux would. It doesn't have to solve all of someone's computing needs. It just needs to be good at the tasks people want a subnotebook for (almost entirely web usage and basic document creation).
Re:Hear hear (Score:3, Insightful)
To stay with the CD Rom example, the average newbie will be happy with a nice GUI where he can drag and drop some files and hit the "burn" button. Most burn programs I've encountered over the years provide that.
On the other hand, the experience changes when you use Microsoft stuff seriously. Then you will start to notice all the little inconsistencies and old bugs that have been unfixed for years. But to get there, you need to pass the newbie stage first which many people never do.
So if Linux wants to compete in the mass market, it has to achieve at least equal ease of use for newcomers. I think distributions like Ubuntu are quite good at that
Re:None of those ways "work" (Score:5, Insightful)
1.) Either the access point isn't an Apple product, and thereby outside of their control, or there really is a problem in their wifi implementation, which is a failure to adhere to their approach, not a failure of their approach in general.
2.) Microsoft's hegemony isn't universal, and it is certainly not omnipotent. They can get most people to follow their rules, but even those that choose to will not always follow all of the rules, or follow them properly. Again, this is because they don't control everyone, which is a failure to fully implement the approach, not a failure of the approach itself.
3.) You're quite right that not every user wants to hack their system to make it work. The F/OSS implementation is to provide enough users who can and do hack their systems to make it work, and having those users share the fruits of their labor with the rest of the community. Ideally, the manufacturers of hardware and developers of software would become a part of that community, and therefore they would be the "geeks", spreading the use of their product would be their "itch", and the hacking would be done by them to the benefit of their users. Again, the implementation of this approach is not universal, and so it doesn't make everything "Just Work".
There may be other approaches that I've not thought about, but if any of these three were to be successfully implemented, then they could make everything "Just Work". As it is, some organizations have produced various incarnations of these approaches with mixed levels of success, with Apple coming the closest to realizing the ideal of their chosen approach.
Asus creates then loses the "Eee pc" market? (Score:4, Insightful)
Asus seem to be determined to lose this new market they created (so new it hardly even has a name) as quickly as they created it. At $500-600 this is now competing with traditional laptops - an underpowered competitor in a large field as opposed to owning a new category they created. Seems dumb to me.
Pricing the Windows model below the Linux one seems to be another bizarre step in the wrong direction.I assumed they were using Linux for the strategic/pricing advantage it gave, but they just threw that advantage out of the window.
Oh, well... at least Asus proved there is a market for a cheap & cheerful $249 notebook / internet appliance... I guess it'll be up to another company to actually take advantage of that market!
Re:None of those ways "work" (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't care if Joe Random Guy can hack the code. There are six billion people in the world - the bet is that *someone* will be willing to hack and share. In practice, that's usually a good bet.
Re:12 GB HDD Vs 20 GB HDD (Score:3, Insightful)
And also, Their space-suits, calculators, independent experiments, solar collectors, cameras, doors, lights, walls--hell I wouldn't be surprised if the air on the space-station had its own OS. Isn't everything computerized these days?
I'm guessing either you got the telling of the story slightly wrong (the only os to guide a rocket from the planet?) or you're just repeating some story you heard in the 80's...
Microsoft's illegally maintaining its monopoly (Score:3, Insightful)
DOJ, Europe, are you paying attention?
It is financially impossible for the "for profit" companies ASUS and Microsoft, to team up and replace a free component (Linux) and bring the cost of a product lower with a new component (Windows) UNLESS Microsoft is paying to keep Linux out of the hands of consumers. This is selling Windows below market value to eliminate competition. This is illegal in any nation that has anti-monopolist laws like U.S.A and the members of the European union.
Will the DOJ and the European agencies please do something about this!?! It harms the very fabric of the computer industry.
And yet... (Score:4, Insightful)
I guess if they're positioning this thing as a traditional laptop, it makes sense to be concerned about people's expectations. But I thought the Eee was marketed as an internet appliance that you shouldn't expect to be able to run iTunes on. And the limited capacity (especially of the XP model) leaves little room for big apps like iTunes.
If you ask me, the price point has moved beyond the old, cheap, impulse buy model. It's certainly a better deal than a Mac Air, but Asus is starting to confuse the new category they helped define. And maybe that's by design. Lots of attention and hype. Now they're trying to redirect it toward their higher-margin offerings.
Still doesn't justify charging more to leave off Windows. Anti-trust enforcement is a joke.
Re:In my country, we call that dumping (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh, and there's the whole convicted monopoly part. Convicted monopolies are supposed to play by different rules.
Re:Find the holes!!! (Score:2, Insightful)