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If it’s easy to learn and easy to use, how come people are still installing Windows on the EEE PC?
I was chatting with a friend who just installed Windows on the EEE PC. His family would prefer to use Windows over the customized Linux installed on it by default.
Ah well.
But it still doesn’t mean that Linux sucks, right? It’s more like Linux still hasn’t really gotten enough mindshare yet so people don’t know that they could use it without much trouble if they only give it time. Then again, people would want to be able to use something immediately so if they’d want to be more productive with it, they’d want something more familiar. It’s human nature, I suppose? Maybe the “Windows XP-ness” (some people say that its color scheme and style of the icons look so Windows XP-like) of Linux on the EEE PC aren’t enough to get people to really use it.
It probably now boils down to how desktop environments will improve, maybe.
GNOME and KDE have gone a long way already and yet they don’t seem to meet the wants and needs of the crowd. What will probably make Linux more acceptable as an OS is the availability of a desktop environment or window manager that would sweep the crowd off their feet. Just like how some people have been swept off their feet because of the sleek look and feel of Mac OSX. Some people say that maybe Linux desktop environments are trying too hard to imitate Mac and Windows. I don’t know. It’s not really that, I think. Somehow I think that there’s still that perception that Linux is for geeks. For me, it depends on what Linux distro you’re talking about. Some of them might be quite like that but not all. PCLinuxOS, Xandros, Suse and Ubuntu seem to be some of the newbie faves.
What about you? What do you think?
I decided to keep XP when i saw the difference in battery life. I can squeeze about 7½ hrs from eee 901 with XP, while under any given Linux dist i get on most 5¼ hrs. Plus, unfortunately there is broader support for hardware for XP, than for Linux (and in most cases vendors don’t even try to make drivers for Linux).
i cant tell why i do it, because i simply dislike the functionality of any linux version i saw so far… i would go so far that from all the OS right now on the table windows XP is the closed to perfection as functionality is concerned… i’m less concerned about speed and stability, in the case of the eee not even concerned about software compatibility , its just XP is convenient and things makes sense, why would i drag my self and get used to this weird geeky linux…. and its not like i pay for xp , so what do i care
@Burki Limousine
The panel does NOT support 1024×768, so you think Windows sets ti to that resolution, but you don’t see 168 horizontal lines, randomly scattered through the display. You see only 600 of them, so it is useless to set a higher resolution.
You must use the declared resolution (1024×600 for the 9″ Eee) for every LCD screen, as they don’t support different resolutions well.
For me it was the issue of screen resolution. Linux does not support 1024 x 768 resolution on a 8.9″ screen. It only supports 1024 x 600. Windows XP does.
For usb VOIP equipment like magic jack, xp is required.
Pretty late to this thread… I bought a 7″ Eee back in the Spring in order to browse the web and check mail on holidays without needing to take my bulkier Thinkpad.
It’s been fine, I have had very few problems with Xandros, it seems that unless you have decent unix skills, there are some things which are beyond the average layman… In my case
(i) Slingbox access under Linux sounds beyond me
(ii) VPN connection so I can access the BBC iPlayer sounds similarly challenging
(iii) because there is no linux version of Nokia’s PC Suite the use of 3G broadband via USB connection to my Nokia phone is also out
All of which took minutes to set up on various home and work Windows based PCs (including an Eee Box running XP!). I’m not a computer enthusiast, I just want it to work.
I’m now convinced that there are sufficient limitations of Xandros that are preventing me getting the most out of my little Eee that I’m going to make the switch to XP.
I lasted 8 months. Please don’t hate me!
I’m about to reinstall my Eee. I installed it with Ubuntu, just because I couldn’t stand the default, and now I’ve hit a snag. I’ve got problems with WLAN, and don’t even know where to begin with fixing them. Instead, I’ll install Windows, which I know inside and out.
No, Linux is not bad, but my skillset is missing significant tools for me to use it as my primary or even secondary OS.
@Chris Peck, @winman, @pierre Well, it really depends on people. I guess you liked the form factor of the Asus EEE a lot. But if you really have to use the applications you need for whatever purposes, I guess then that is a problem that could only be solved by installing Windows. But I think that everyone should still give the pre-installed OS a try before judging it :)
I’ve got three reasons to put Windows XP on my eee pc, I need to use my verizon phone for internet access, i want access to my slingplayer, and, I want to download Tivo recorded shows to it.
Granted that I could hack away & get my cell phone to work under linux, I could install Virtualbox to run the other two under a VM of Windows, but, why bother.
This coming from someone who has been a unix sysadmin since the mid-eighties (pre-linux).
BTW-I DO feel a little dirty though :)
I really tried sticking with the default OS but making the programs work that i download is a pain in the ass.
This is my only reason for installing xp.
Windows works, Linux might work. I go with what I know. And I code windows. As a programmer I like to make money, if I didnt need money I would code for linux.
I wanted to give linux an go, I really did. But after a few weeks of failing to install anything easily (all that sudo bash, and looking up libraries) I went back to XP. I know how to use it, to find, download, and install stuff.
I’ve been using it for 15 odd years, this dog is-sadly-too old for new tricks.
The main reason why i installed Windows xp on my eee, is bescause on the default the MSN or windows live messenger does not support webcam since i travel alot i’d prefer windows xp so i can web call my family.
one simple 3LA explains .. CLI (or command line interface) – I am fine with Linux up till that point.
Talk about DOS window’ing. Once I can do all those CLI things via a GUI then I will switch.
edlin rules no more.
1561 days ago
[...] has a point. After all, people are still installing Windows XP on the Asus EEE because of that. It’s the mentality, the convenience of knowing Windows already that keeps people to it and [...]
I have a 4G on order, expect it this week, and I would install XP to work Microsoft “Streets & Roads” GPS Is anyone aware of a Linux version of that program?I have an XP disc now, but would rather not install it, if I don’t have to.
I’ve been running Linux (Ubuntu) on my primary desktop for over a year now. If programs were as easy to install on the eee PC as they are on Ubuntu, I don’t think people would have to switch.
There are things with the default Xandros install that work well and are optimized for the screen size of the eee PC. However, I’m fairly comfortable with Linux and haven’t been able to successfully install even half the programs I want on this thing. I tried eeeXubuntu, but it missed some things I liked about Xandros. I have no plans of going to WinXP, but can understand why people want to. Asus made the distribution too simple. They took away the good things of Debian and tried to “Windows” them. I think in the next couple versions of eeeXubuntu, I’ll be using that.
It’s a funny thing that hardware and software folks refuse to resolve. Seeing how we all have our loyalties and preferences and seeing how we users are a marketing force, how come we still grant squatters rights to what ever OS that is on the disk drive? If we can not except the OS that comes with the machine we should be able to easily change it. Put the OS on a bootable jump drive or some plug in card. But I think it is nice to see a “PC” not designed with Microsoft software in mind. And I think it is lame for Microsoft to suggest it is unfair to design, market and sale a PC that they can’t easily inhabit.
@Walter (sorry for my not-quite-good english)
I don’t get offended by your opinion, but I must say it is a bit old.
The problem is simple: Linux is not desktop-mainstream, so hardware makers don’t bother writing and distributing drivers for it with their gadgets, so people don’t use Linux because such gadgets don’t work “out-of-the-box”.
We italians call this “self-tail-eating-cat” (imagine a cat running in circle trying to eat its tail).
Even worse, producers don’t publish hardware specs (registers, settings, voltages, etc.), so OS developers can’t write drivers.
All we can do is hope they used some well-known standard (usb storage, for example). Many times this doesn’t happen, and some hardware vendors simply break standards, so the kernel drivers are full of exceptions, becoming bloated just to support this insanity.
I think hardware like the Eee, the Nokia N8x0, the gPC and other “limited” machines could be the breach in the market. The user should not upgrade (to much) his hardware, and can use the standard OS version and applications, never bothering to search drivers.
You are maybe a “power user”, but 90% of users will keep their PCs as they bought it for at least 1 year. This user base could be happy with the Eee, needing nothing else. They have Internet via wifi and ethernet, webcam, base software. Maybe they will need Bluetooth, but luckily most of BT dongles are well supported. USB keys and storage are fully supported. The “gray area” is the digital cameras one, as new cameras are coming out every day, but you can use a card-reader.
As for the applications, they know the computer comes with completely different ones from their desktop. The base interface is completely different. It’s like using a cel phone: you don’t expect to use Word or Excel or Photoshop on it, so you use what is provided: OpenOffice and Gimp.
Linux Power Users will undoubtedly reinstall their preferred distro on it, but this is a “plus” of the x86 architecture, unknown to the casual user.
Bye.
1587 days ago
[...] I certainly hope that those of you who are thinking about the Asus EEE would really take into consideration the intended purpose of the gadget as well as the end user, especially if it’s not you but someone in your family or your friends. I know that it’s important to make sure that we have something nice and useful to use but does it really fit the needs of the end user and would it really be the best deal to make? You could read other thoughts on the matter on my blog entry about people installing Windows on the Asus EEE. [...]
I can’t reply to all the comments so here are some of my thoughts:
@Gary I can see your point. I still see job postings for people with skills using specific apps like the MS Office Suite. However, there are still employers who value the attitude of learning over skill in one particular app. :)
@Joe Exactly. It’s something to consider, right? But if they could afford the software, they probably could afford hardware too… So I wonder why they should even bother buying an Asus EEE. Maybe it’s the form factor that got them, not the entire package.
@David I do believe that there are a lot of apps that are bundled with Linux which could be considered as killer apps. I like using Beagle. Then there’s k3b as well. And Emacs! And wget. And SSH is supported out of the box. I guess there are still some things that open source devs have to see from the users’ perspective so that more people will use Linux.
@Andre Cotte Well said.