Esprit vif

A brand new netbook with GNU/Linux

Eee PC is a computer line designed by Asus, a Taiwan-based company. The first ones were released on October 2007 in Taiwan, and the tiny laptops starting at $340 sold out in 30 minutes. Asus sold over 300,000 units in 2007 mostly in Asia and America; it was the most bought electronic product in USA for the winter holidays. Eee PC was released in France at the end of January 2008, and was immediately out of stock, and almost unobtainable in February and March; according to Gartner, Asus sold 60,000 Eee PC in France for the first semester 2008. It has sold 10,000 units in 48 hours at his launch in Italy. It was quite the same in every country : a very massive sales success.

Why a such passion? On the occidental market, Eee PC was the brand first computer that we called now a netbook. It means an ultraportable computer, very small, light-weight, low-cost, with a flash SSD hard disk. It is an occasional or complementary computer, which fit easily in a pocket or a handbag, and designed for web browsing, working, instant messaging etc. everywhere. In fact, The Eee series was inspired by the XO-1 notebook from the One Laptop per Child initiative, the ultraportable designed by MIT for the Third World children.

Another thing was brand new on those computer : the Eee PC 701 (the first one) was running with GNU/Linux operating system. It hosted Xandros, modified by Asus to be more accessible to novices. In fact, the version given by Xandros and Asus was as easy to use as a mobile phone, with big icons for each programs. In fact, this operating system was designed to be easy even for the first time and casual user, and the user can use easily aplications such as OpenOffice.org, Mozilla Firefox, Skype, Pidgin, Mozilla Thunderbird etc. Even it is hidden by default, geeks can access to all little GNU/Linux applications, KDE tools and shells.

Microsoft fights back

We have seen that GNU/Linux-powered mini notebooks are selling like hotcakes. At the beginning of 2008, the success of this netbook convey the sense for many people that the Eee PC has the potential to take GNU/Linux mainstream. Microsoft feared that Eee PC might be a kind of GNU/Linux Trojan horse : It would cost it much, in terms of user-base, if it allowed the penguin to remain installed on a popular machine. So it fights back.

Microsoft created a new license (ULCPC) for Windows XP and offered ultra low cost PC manufacturers a deal on Windows XP Home to compete with GNU/Linux in emerging markets such as India and China, announcing that it is extending the availability of Windows XP Home Edition until mid-2010 for netbooks; at the same time, it convinces Asus to offer Windows XP as an alternative to GNU/Linux, and was dropping the price of Windows XP to between $26 and $32 (instead of around $100).

A version of the Eee PC with Microsoft Windows XP pre-installed was released in January 2008, and was commercialised from March on occidental market. Nobody knows if Microsoft pressurized or promised Asus something, but then, all becomes different. Asus announced that it expects Windows-based Eee PC to outsell its Linux-based counterpart by a ratio of 6 to 4. In the stores, where the Eee PC were out of stock, the majority of new Eee PC 701 and 900 are running Windows. And, most of the time, this is the Windows netbook which is promoted. Sometimes, you have only the Windows model in store, and you have to order if you want to get the GNU/Linux one...

The price change depending on the country. Generally, the Windows-powered netbook is more expensive that the Xandros one; but it is not always the case. For example, at a launch event in Australia for the much-anticipated Eee PC 900 model, local product manager revealed that the Windows XP model would sell for $599 in Australia, while the GNU/Linux model would be $649, and that additionally, the GNU/Linux version will not be sold in retail store. How is it possible? Because the penguin-powered version comes with 20GB of flash memory, while the Microsoft version only comes with 12GB. But then, the Windows EEE PC was cheaper, and for a netbook, the price is a decisive element in consumers' choice.

Consequences

So, Microsoft achieve to run on Eee PC. But what a pitty for the consumer ! When he will now go to his favorite retailer, the lambda consumer we'll see two choice : a netbook with Windows, a system he knows and he probably already uses at home or at work, and (sometimes) the same netbook with an another system. Probably, he will choose the model with the known system. And, the Eee PC works well ! The consumer will be satisfied.

But the thing is, the device does support Windows XP, but GNU/Linux seems to be the OS of choice for all of the reviewers for performance and ease-of-use reasons. Because the GNU/Linux version was very well customized by Asus and Xandros for the performance of the hardware and for end-users. And the Windows version is juste a classic Windows XP.

It is not just because the base GNU/Linux system boots substantially faster than the boot time for an installation of Windows XP on the same hardware. Take a look at an Eee PC 900 with Windows XP installed and you'll probably think that it's an underpowered little sub-notebook with an undersized keyboard and screen, running an operating system was never really designed for. It can be a good point for Microsoft : user will think that netbooks are not a such interesting thing, and will prefer bigger laptops, where Windows can better compete with GNU/Linux. And this is important, because there are now many challengers of Asus Eee PC, such as Everex CloudBook, who are avaiable with a GNU/Linux version.

Despite a few naysayers, the Linux Eee PC continues to sell well : Asus shipped around 2 million GNU/Linux EEE PCs. This is the proof that users, who surpass their fear of using a new system, liked the penguin-powered version. And the GNU/Linux & free software community will continue to grow, with or without Asus : just for example, Mozilla Firefox hold a Guinness World Record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours (8,002,530 people downloaded Firefox 3 from 18:16 UTC on June 17, 2008 to 18:16 UTC on June 18, 2008) ; another example is that the Ubuntu installfest of Paris of last month received 4,000 visitors in two days... Asus decision-maker should think about it.