Having purchased an Asus 701 (4G) netbook a couple of months ago, I was very surprised to learn this week that novice PC users, like students and housewives, tend to buy the Linux version of the Eee PC701. My choice of the Eee PC701 was dictated by the fact it came with Linux pre-installed, my personal preferance for any computer, but to see the general public warming up, and actually prefering this hottest selling device in the PC market with Linux was refreshing. Weighing in well under 2lbs, and with built in wifi and webcam, these little machines are perfect for email, chat, web browsing, and music. If you’d like a more advanced experiance, the EeeUser site is filled with tips and tricks to get your mini laptop doing nearly anything you could imagine, and a few things you never thought of.
Author Archives: tim
Run what you want
Would you like to try out Linux, but haven’t a clue how to create a dual boot system? VirtualBox allows you to do just that. This is a software based virtualization platform that runs in Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and Solaris that supports guests (virtual machines) of the same. Now you can easily roll out a Windows install on your Mac or Linux PC, or any other combination. As seen here, this is one of the coolest Linux demonstration videos I’ve had the chance to view, you’ll notice a Windows XP system running in the opposing desktop view in full screen even. The desktop effects you see are Compiz which I will discuss in a later post.
Break out the cheese and crackers, WINE 1.0 released
Have you had enough of Windows faulty features yet? After 15 years of development and testing, WINE has finally reached v1.0 this week. Think of WINE as a gateway program to break free from the Microsoft operating system and still be able to run Windows programs in Linux, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, and Solaris. This will give software companies an incentive to embrace Linux with their products without having to rewrite their entire code to get compatibility. It will also allow consumers and business alike the ability to make use of the huge assortment of Open Source Software while still holding onto their beloved Windows program they cannot live without.