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Running Ubuntu on an Asus EEE 4G
,----[ Quote ]
| I was fortunate enough, thanks to Microsoft, to get my hands on an Asus EEE
| 4G, the ultra-small version with the 7-inch screen and based on the 701.
|
| [...]
|
| Installing Ubuntu-EEE is straight forward enough if you have an external
| optical drive. All you need to do is burn the ISO to a CD and reboot the EEE.
| As the little EEE boots up hit the Esc key a couple of times until you see a
| menu for choosing your preferred installation media. Choose the external disc
| drive and you’re away. The Asus EEE will boot into the Live desktop which
| includes the installation icon on the desktop. Click that and Ubuntu does its
| normal installation routine and shortly you’ll have Ubuntu installed on your
| EEE.
`----
http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=2771
Is Microsoft giving laptops to bloggers again? It's carefully phrases.
Related:
Now Microsoft Wants Its Laptop Back
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft and AMD sent out a pile of very expensive (yet trashy
| looking) laptops to a number of bloggers over the past week. We
| were told we could keep them - now after a day of minor outrage
| by some people they are emailing us back with the following
| request that we not keep them after all!
`----
http://marshallk.com/microsoft-wants-its-laptops-back
Bribing Bloggers
,----[ Quote ]
| It's a bribe. Period. You say nice things about us, you get nice
| things from us. Heck, just say neutral things about us-we'll give
| you a killer new laptop and we know that you'll be inclined to say
| better things about us.
`----
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2077596,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03129TX1K0000616
Microsoft Sent A Free Laptop With Windows Vista
,----[ Quote ]
| I'm not sure how I was selected to be one of the people receiving this
| (I'm assuming there are others, but I haven't come across any yet).
| It could be that they are reaching out to bloggers who are Mac users
| (I switched to a Mac back when OS X came out) or it might just be that
| people I know who work for Microsoft or other influential bloggers
| recommended me
`----
http://laughingsquid.com/microsoft-sent-a-free-laptop-with-windows-vista/
Recent:
More evidence of Microsoft "tying up" the Asus EeePC
,----[ Quote ]
| Then, one of the makers of Netbooks will release a fantastic product using
| the paid Ubuntu/Netbook Remix, which will make us all forget about the EeePC
| — or, maybe we’ll remember it as one of the makers which used GNU/Linux in
| order to launch a product, and then gave in to Microsoft’s pressure.
|
| The real question is: will the next maker manage to resist Microsoft’s
| pressure? Or will everybody end up closely tied up with Microsoft?
`----
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/more_evidence_microsoft_tying_up_the_asus_eeepc
EXCLUSIVE: ASUS Speaks on the EEE PC
,----[ Quote ]
| TechTree: States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka promote the Linux
| operating system in its education and government sectors. Will ASUS roll out
| Linux alternatives for the new 904HD and 1000H models in India?
|
| Benson Lin: Currently, we're closely tied up with Microsoft and the EEE PC
| with Windows XP would be available to the Indian market.
`----
http://www.techtree.com/India/News/EXCLUSIVE_ASUS_Speaks_on_the_EEE_PC/551-91486-581.html
Microsoft U-turn to stop Linux dominating ultra low cost PCs
,----[ Quote ]
| By offering Windows XP Home Edition at bargain prices, Microsoft hopes to
| secure its place in the ULPC market and reduce the use of Linux, according to
| an official at one PC maker, who asked not to be identified because he was
| not authorised to discuss the programme.
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/technology/hardware/laptops/news/index.cfm?newsid=9006
Microsoft to limit capabilities of cheap laptops
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft plans to offer PC makers steep discounts on Windows XP Home Edition
| to encourage them to use that OS instead of Linux on ultra low-cost PCs
| (ULPCs). To be eligible, however, the PC vendors that make ULPCs must limit
| screen sizes to 10.2 inches and hard drives to 80G bytes, and they cannot
| offer touch-screen PCs.
|
| The program is outlined in confidential documents that Microsoft sent to PC
| makers last month, and which were obtained by IDG News Service. The goal
| apparently is to limit the hardware capabilities of ULPCs so that they don't
| eat into the market for mainstream PCs running Windows Vista, something both
| Microsoft and the PC vendors would want to avoid.
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft notes that the OSes under consideration for the devices include
| Windows and Linux. Some PC makers have expressed a preference for Linux
| because it helps them keep down the cost of the devices.
|
| [...]
|
| By offering Windows XP Home Edition at bargain prices, Microsoft hopes to
| secure its place in the ULPC market and reduce the use of Linux, according to
| an official at one PC maker, who asked not to be identified because he was
| not authorized to discuss the program.
|
| "[Low-cost PC makers] have made some good inroads with open-source, and
| Microsoft wants to put a stop to it," the official said.
|
| The official did not seem opposed to the program. It should stimulate more
| competition between Windows and Linux in the ULPC market, and it could
| invigorate sales because consumers who want an easy-to-use PC are likely to
| prefer Windows, the official said.
`----
http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=D04AB1F8-17A4-0F78-310F5F4479DEEE86
Microsoft selling hobbled software to poor countries
,----[ Quote ]
| Surprisingly, no-one seems to have told Microsoft that it is not good
| marketing strategy to treat your customers as if they are stupid. Which
| is exactly what the company is doing with the release in Africa of the
| stripped-down operating system it calls Windows XP Starter Edition.
|
| Microsoft South Africa launched Windows XP Starter Edition (XPSE) into
| the African market last week with very little fanfare and market hype.
|
| Which is not surprising considering how the product was received by other
| media on its intial launch in 2004. Known for its straight talking, The
| Register labelled XPSE "crippleware". Analysts Gartner said the product
| had "good intent, poor execution".
`----
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?src=rss&id=983
The Problem with Crippleware
,----[ Quote ]
| What Microsoft wants is that the third party products, whether written
| by hobbyists or professionals, serve Microsoft's business model, not
| their own.
|
| Microsoft has always had great developer programs, and even at the CEO
| level, they get why developers matter. (Can you imagine any CEO other
| than Steve Ballmer doing his famous sweat-soaked "Developers, developers,
| developers" chant? If you can, I apologize for the visual.) But I
| think increasingly, Microsoft is running into the limits of its own
| model. It's seeking grassroots support to compete against the growing
| momentum in open source, and it's at a disadvantage.
`----
http://weblog.infoworld.com/openresource/archives/2007/07/the_problem_wit_3.html
Microsoft patent hints at pay-as-you-go OS
,----[ Quote ]
| A Microsoft patent application from June 2005, published only today,
| titled "System and method for delivery of a modular operating system"
| may signal a fundamental change for what an operating systems stands
| for and how it is sold.
`----
http://www.istartedsomething.com.nyud.net:8080/20061215/pay-as-you-go-os-patent/
Ninth Circuit declines to hear Microsoft appeal in 'Vista Capable' suit
,----[ Quote ]
| That's the early word from lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the suit.
| Remember, Microsoft was seeking to appeal the judge's class certification in
| the suit. With the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declining to take up the
| case, it should proceed in U.S. District Court.
`----
http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/techtracks/2008/04/ninth_circuit_declines_to_hear_microsoft_appeal_in.html
Vista Capable plaintiffs subpoena PC titans
,----[ Quote ]
| Other notable names on the list include Intel and former Windows chief Jim
| Allchin.
`----
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/135018.asp
Microsoft tries to stop more ‘Vista-capable’ e-mails from going public
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is trying to put the kibosh on more of its internal (and
| embarassing) e-mail messages around its Vista marketing plans going public.
|
| [...]
|
| With every version of Windows, Microsoft has worked with hardware partners to
| find new ways to try to convince users they need more and more powerful
| machines to take advantage of more feature-rich software. If Microsoft and
| its partners were/are successful, it means more money in the PC makers’ and
| Microsoft’s coffers. With Vista, this pact really back-fired, as the already
| published e-mails around Vista-capable — and more, as-yet-unpublicized
| messages — will make evident.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1254
Microsoft challenges 'Vista Capable' class action
,----[ Quote ]
| If granted, the motion would also postpone any new disclosures of potentially
| embarrassing company e-mails.
`----
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9067400
They Criticized Vista. And They Should Know.
,----[ Quote ]
| Act 1: In 2005, Microsoft plans to say that only PCs that are properly
| equipped to handle the heavy graphics demands of Vista are “Vista Ready.”
|
| Act 2: In early 2006, Microsoft decides to drop the graphics-related hardware
| requirement in order to avoid hurting Windows XP sales on low-end machines
| while Vista is readied. (A customer could reasonably conclude that Microsoft
| is saying, Buy Now, Upgrade Later.) A semantic adjustment is made: Instead of
| saying that a PC is “Vista Ready,” which might convey the idea that, well, it
| is ready to run Vista, a PC will be described as “Vista Capable,” which
| supposedly signals that no promises are made about which version of Vista
| will actually work.
|
| The decision to drop the original hardware requirements is accompanied by
| considerable internal protest. The minimum hardware configuration was set so
| low that “even a piece of junk will qualify,” Anantha Kancherla, a Microsoft
| program manager, said in an internal e-mail message among those recently
| unsealed, adding, “It will be a complete tragedy if we allowed it.”
|
| Act 3: In 2007, Vista is released in multiple versions, including “Home
| Basic,” which lacks Vista’s distinctive graphics. This placed Microsoft’s
| partners in an embarrassing position. Dell, which gave Microsoft a postmortem
| report that was also included among court documents, dryly
| remarked: “Customers did not understand what ‘Capable’ meant and expected
| more than could/would be delivered.”
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business/09digi.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin
Microsoft knew of Vista shortcoming prior to release
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsoft-knew-vista-shortcoming-prior/story.aspx?guid=%7B75BE59C7%2DEFA1%2D48B5%2DB4A4%2D90F5E01A52A0%7D&siteid=yhoof
Microsoft dropped Vista hardware spec to raise Intel profits
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/03/01/microsoft_intel_vista_capable_emails/
Microsoft 'Caves' To Intel
http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/28/microsoft-vista-intel-tech-ebiz-cx_wt_0228vista.html?partner=yahootix
Has Vista lost all credibility?
http://apcmag.com/8344/has_vista_lost_all_credibility
E-mail: Microsoft 'botched' dealings with Intel, HP
,----[ Quote ]
| Internal Microsoft e-mails revealed through a federal class-action lawsuit
| arising from the troubled launch last year of the Windows Vista operating
| system have provided a provocative inside look at the software giant's
| machinations with Intel, HP and Dell.
|
| The e-mails include an exchange in which one senior Microsoft executive
| described dealings with computer makers as "really botched." Another manager
| complained Microsoft was "caving to Intel" and "really burning HP."
|
| The e-mails are included in 145 pages of documents unsealed by U.S. District
| Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle late Wednesday. They include internal
| reports and some handwritten notes that offer a rare look inside at the
| famed "Wintel" partnership, and touch upon the alliance's dealings with
| Hewlett-Packard, Dell and other computer makers.
`----
http://origin.mercurynews.com/businessheadlines/ci_8417811?nclick_check=1
Microsoft worried over Linux ULPCs
,----[ Quote
| An un-named Microsoft official quoted in the original article claims that
| manufacturers currently offering Linux on their low-cost devices “have made
| some good inroads with open-source, and Microsoft wants to put a stop to it.”
`----
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/05/12/microsoft-worried-over-linux-ulpcs/1
Feeling the heat at Microsoft
,----[ Quote ]
| If I ask you who is Microsoft's biggest competitor now, who would it be?
|
| Ballmer: Open...Linux. I don't want to say open source. Linux, certainly have
| to go with that.
`----
http://www.news.com/Feeling-the-heat-at-Microsoft/2008-1012_3-6232458.html?tag=ne.fd.mnbc
Otellini: 'MID revolution will be centred round Linux'
,----[ Quote ]
| Intel CEO says Microsoft's insistence on pushing Vista will hand market to
| open source rival
|
| Intel's CEO has said that he sees the revolution that is about to happen
| around mobile internet devices (MID) such as the Eee PC and other Atom-based
| sub-notebooks will be "centred round Linux", in an interview with Associated
| Press.
`----
http://www.pcretailmag.com/news/29939/Otellini-MID-revolution-will-be-centred-round-Linux
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