Microsoft has recently given more life to Windows XP by allowing it to be used with Eee PC and other Netbook devices past the original end of lifespan date. Now, PC World has the scoop on what the caveats are for still being able to package XP with a notebook:
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.
Perhaps this gives a glimpse into the future of Netbooks at this point, and reasons why devices like the Eee PC do not come with touch-screens and such.
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What a sad day when the natural evolution of technology that many people want is so artificially controlled by a single companies view of the future. Open markets should dictate the rules, not companies. In the end, this will ultimately hurt Microsoft as more people wakeup to a new vision of how people can use emerging technology and look for alternatives. This will take time, but it will happen as hardware, applications, and operating systems become more commodities. People want access to information/data, not technology. They want an information appliance. The Eee is demonstrating these trends the moment and I hope will continue as the markets demand more innovation. I would Asus to move on. Look how many Eees have already been sold without XP. I know the arguments. But XP is *NOT* in Microsoft’s future. Vista is. They need to help partners move hardware and desktop applications. They represent the technologies of the past. Instant access to networked data and applications is where it is at. And the Eee is in the center with ease of use and costs of ownership. Keep the faith. -Mark
Really annoys me that Microsoft is holding back devices like the Eee which would be great with a touchscreen. Seems to be like a monopolist limiting competition. Again shows the freedom you get using Linux.
The CPU should not exceed 1Ghz and must be a single core…
More info for this “old” new :
In french
http://www.blogeee.net/2008/04/25/quest-ce-quil-y-aura-dans-le-windows-xp-des-ultraportables/
Google translate
http://translate.google.fr/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogeee.net%2F2008%2F04%2F25%2Fquest-ce-quil-y-aura-dans-le-windows-xp-des-ultraportables%2F&sl=fr&tl=en&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8
The guys above have said it all but since when did Microsoft allow themselves to define what is and what is not an “ultraportable”.. Why have they decided to go on specifications of the hardware and not something like the weight, which is what defines ultraportability in my book at least. Microsoft need to let go of XP and perhaps make a proper OS that runs well on any hardware.. It’s never gonna happen.
This comes to show how much of a monster microsoft is. I don’t know if its true all around but me and my friends tried Vista only to be disappointed with its compatibitly issues that we immediately went back to XP.Instead of trying to improve the crummy OS they are prodding the very people they depend on to use something they don’t want.Its not fair that if your comfortable with a particular product that your forced to change and spend your hard earned money cause everything is pushing you in that direction.
Bah! This will mean we will only get this at best, because most suppliers want to run windows… Like for example how we didn’t have SATA dvd drives for a long time because they were a pain to use with xp, and now with vista finally handling it, they are common and cheap…
“The CPU should not exceed 1Ghz and must be a single core”
My first thought was “Oh great, there goes any hope of an Atom-based EEE that performs anywhere near as well as the current EEE.”
On the other hand, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Microsoft be a bit flexible and alter these restrictions on a case-by-case basis.
Actually, to address the concern I raised in my previous comment, from the article:
“That’s where the hardware limits come in. Besides limits on the screens and hard drives, to be eligible, the systems can have no more than 1G byte of RAM and a single-core processor running at no more than 1GHz. The program makes an allowance for some chips, including Via Technologies’ C7-M processors, which run between 1.0GHz and 1.6GHz, and Intel’s upcoming Atom N270.”
Hmm, that would definitely explain the lack of a touch-screen on the XP-based EeePC, but what’s stopping Asus from selling a Linux-only machine with a touch-screen, which people can choose to install their own copy of XP on, just as they do with the current 20GB machine?
WTF, the logic behind not to allow dual-core or better processors and touchscreen ultraportable mini-notebook from using Windows XP is because????????? I mean the software XP once installed on such a machine will work fine right? SO it is simply a case of Bill Gate said you cunt do it? What a stupid stupid stupid reason.
How is Mircosoft planning to achieve this? Are they planning to refuse to sell XP to the first manufacturer that produces UMPC with dual core processor and 11″ screen? (And such will come, probably quite soon. Just think what laptops were 5 yrs ago) If they really do refuse to sell XP to this manufacturer, or use their dirty tricks (again), they will probably get sued.
The positive side in this is that with the poor reception of Vista by consumers/industry and behaviour like this from Microsofts behalf, raise the possibility that next “gotta-have” UMPC with 11″ tilting-tablet-like-touchscreen, dual core VLC processor, 120 GB 1.8″ HD and 2 GB of memory will come linux preinstalled. Possibly even with some decent distribution instead of tweaked niche variant.
Another reason you should feel guilty any time you buy a machine with Windows on it
I’m not actually a big fan of touchscreens so it doesn’t affect me personally, but this is yet another case of Microsoft using their market clout to bluntly force through their own interests, in this case their attempts to force people to use Vista. Thus I’m outraged on principle and for the sake of the people who would in fact love to use touchscreen devices.
I don’t think this is the funereal news everyone is making it out to be.
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/microsofts-ulcpc-nazism-good-news/
It will backfire big on MS.
I’m grateful for MS for such enlightening move. At one hand pushing a hard heavy bloat what Vista is, at the other doesn’t having anything new to offer than old XP (and crippling it at that). It only push more people to search viable alternatives.
This news really disappoints me! The eee and machines like it are what schools have been waiting for. Reliable low cost computers that every student can afford. The one real enhancement missing was touch screen capability. Students need to draw diagrams and graphics all the time when note taking. A touch screen would have added very little cost, especially once volumes had ramped up, but would make this type of machine perfect for schools. Why is it that companies like MS, despite their founders apparent interest in education, just don’t seem to realise what a big market the education sector is and start refining their product to meet our needs. A fraction of one of Bill’s billions would cover the possible loss of revenue to MS in this market area. Microsoft and their promises of supporting education are all hot air, all that matters is corporate greed!
“Are they planning to refuse to sell XP to the first manufacturer that produces UMPC with dual core processor and 11″ screen? (And such will come, probably quite soon.”
It’s called the Sony VAIO TZ
MS sucks. I don’t care what restrictions they put on UMPCs. I am only interested in a Linux Eee. But this is another example of how MS will do what ever it takes to force Vista on the world! I preach Ubuntu to anyone and everyone I see. Long live Linux and open source!
this is not about ‘refusing to sell XP’, ‘holding back devices’, etc. do you guys ever READ articles before you start some nonsensical flaming?
if a product doesn’t mach the requirements, the manufacturer is not ELIGIBLE to a discount on the license but not prohibited to offer XP as an operating system. this is some helluva difference. MS prefer to sell XP Tablet PC edition on touch screen models rather than a discounted regular XP or Vista where applicable with higher spec mini laptops.
@Molly
Microsoft announced that they were not going to sell Windows XP licenses after June 2008 at all. Now they are backtracking from this decision, but are putting limitations on the specifications of the devices for which XP licenses will continue to be available. So unless Microsoft management changes their mind even further, manufacturers producing devices that do not match the specifications outlined by Microsoft will not have the choice to offer their products with XP.
Fine, apply all these restrictions Microsoft. You are only hurting yourselves by applying these restrictions to manufacturers discounts. The one consumer market where Linux is thriving with millions of new users (and Microsoft can’t get their most recent OS to work well with) is the sub-notebook market. Applying further restrictions will be even more reason for manufacturers to leave MS behind while the further tweak and explore the possibilities Linux has to offer their customers.
@ Milen
“but are putting limitations on the specifications of the devices for which XP licenses will continue to be available.”
no, they’re putting limitations on the specifications of devices for which their manufacturers will be eligible for the discount scheme.
if for example ASUS decides to release a touch screen version of the Eee PC they sure will get windows XP Home edition licenses for it. not at discount rates but for the regular price,.
Molly
I think what you may be missing is how close the margins are on these sort of machines. It may seem feasible for ASUS to go ahead and make a machine with a touch screen, but in reality these pressures and margins that Microsoft are playing around with are really quite significant. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t bother to impose them. Sure ASUS can make a ULCPC with a touch screen but they will never make one just for Linux, despite the noise that the Linux community makes, their simply isn’t the sales volume for it to be worth it. Look how quickly they came up with a windows version. The plain fact is that the overwhelming majority of users prefer the mainstream OS, and that is Windows. Microsoft are manipulating the market in their favour, something they do all the time, and is why they are fighting a $1.5Billion fine in Europe. Manufactures are not free to do as they wish, they are controlled by the market place, by the competition, by chip and OS manufactures and suppliers. Microsoft’s latest move which they are quite at liberty to do, they haven’t broken any laws after all, will influence the market. Its what big corporations do, protect their interests, their own futures. We are just lucky if that interest happens to coincide with the public good. In this case I don’t think it does, this restriction is aimed at suppressing a sector of one market to prevent it stealing a share of a more lucrative one. That is in no-one’s interest except Microsoft’s, and they deserve to be pilloried for it.
@ Molly
“if for example ASUS decides to release a touch screen version of the Eee PC they sure will get windows XP Home edition licenses for it. not at discount rates but for the regular price.”
Windows XP licences will not be available to manufacturers after June 2008 – this is Microsoft’s current position and it has been in the news a while ago. It will not be the matter of choice. The only exception Microsoft will make is for ultra mobile devices within certain specifications. These are the facts for now, unless Microsoft changes their mind at a later point.
MS was all set to retire XP, but with the millions of Asus EEE PC’s that are being sold with “gasp” Linux made them revisit this decision. MS realized this is a huge emerging market and they must not let this market slip to Linux…but Vista is too bloated to run Vista and the cost of XP licenses are one third the price of the PC. So they bring back XP with a reduced license cost and add their draconian limitations.
It just proves MS does not care about their customers…only the money.
Bill still secretly believe that all computers should have no more than 64K memory as he cannot imagine what application will need more than 64k of memory to run. Having said that, have Asus think of just selling a blank EEE PC without any OS preinstalled?
1. Users can then install whatever they want themselves.
2. Asus can also then sell the EEE PC cheaper.
3. This is a win-win situation. You can buy a notebook with no preinstall OS for decades now.
I MEAN SERIOUSLY ASUS, WHY NOT SELL US YOUR EEE PCs TO US WITHOUT PRE-INSTALLED OS AND AS A RESULT SELL THEM CHEAPER TOO BUT BUT.. DON’T CRIPPLE THE MEAN OR ABILITY TO ALLOW USERS TO INSTALL EITHER XP OR LINUX FLAVOUR.
I MEAN SERIOUSLY ASUS, WHY NOT SELL US YOUR EEE PCs TO US WITHOUT PRE-INSTALLED OS AND AS A RESULT SELL THEM CHEAPER TOO BUT BUT.. DON’T CRIPPLE THE MEAN OR ABILITY TO ALLOW USERS TO INSTALL EITHER XP OR LINUX FLAVOUR.
The answer to this is that knowing Microsoft, there is probably a clause written into the contract that Asus will lose their discount on Windows if they do so.
There is an absolute army of private pc users just waiting for the next Asus eee with a bigger screen and more memory/storage and imo the bullish comments by existing users will continue to encourange millions more to venture away from Micro$oft stuff.
MS will, of course, still have a stranglehold on business users and even in this field their Vista carthorse is being shunned by most businesses.
I’ve always been a Windows user but now cannot wait for the next stock of Asus eee to become available and I’ll dive in and never look back. I’ll NEVER use Vista!
My friends, good news.. there is a new kid in the block with an 80GB storage and cheaper than Asus EEE 901 PC Atom-series. Everything else in spec is the almost the same I think and look very much the same too!!!!
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/05/09/msi_wind_uk_price/
MSI’s 10in Eee PC rival priced up in UK
6 commentsBy Tony Smith [More by this author]
9th May 2008 12:17 GMT
How much will MSI’s would-be Eee PC beater set you back? £320 for the Linux version or £350 for the Windows XP Home release, according to UK importer Expansys.
MSI’s Wind: blowing into the UK in June
Both models incorporate a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB of memory, an 80GB hard drive, integrated Intel graphics courtesy of the 945GMS chipset, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
The two versions both come with a 10in, 1024 x 600 display. When MSI launched the product, it also said it would offer Winds with 8.9in screens, but there’s no sign of those among the Expansys listings. The included technical details suggest these are the prices for the 10in models, but the company could not confirm that was the case today, and won’t until stocks arrive.
Atom powered
The Wind is due to waft in in June, but Expansys is taking orders for the small laptop now. The machine will be available in a choice of colours: black, white or pink.
The price will appeal to potential Eee PC 900 buyers looking for more storage capacity. Asus’ 20GB Linux machine is currently priced at around £329, so the two will go head to head.
The 900 uses a 900MHz Celeron M processor, a generation or two behind the Wind’s Atom chip. However, Asus has pledged to ship Atom-based Eees in June.
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