Everex, who just announced a $198 Linux desktop is also saying that they will offer a $300 notebook next year and on top of this has "
plans to introduce other mobile devices like ultramobile PCs." [PCWorld.com]
Could this be the first truly low-cost UMPC? I bet so. If it's similar to these other systems, it very well may run Linux, which isn't terrible, but it's another signal that Microsoft doesn't have an OS to offer--outside of XP--for these low-end systems.
I'm getting concerned for Microsoft here. It's getting eaten alive on the influential prosumer end by OS X and its being gnawed at on the low end by these often mobile systems. There's really no reason for this. Windows marketing has made a mess on the prosumer side with Vista--confusing its real value proposition: It IS a better version of Windows although the driver problem has been abysmal--and on the low end Microsoft has missed out on giving XP a fresh mobile look and offering it up as the resource Miser's offering. Oh, how this all makes me twinge.
Incremental Blogger