Little and Big
Little and Big
Dear Linux Magazine Reader,
In the July, 2008 issue, I wrote about the announcement from Microsoft that they were keeping Windows XP around past its planned retirement date, in large part to fend off the challenge posed by a new class of ulta low-cost PCs (ULPC) that was emerging in the market. Particularly popular was a hot-selling little Linux mini known as the ASUS Eee PC. At the time, surging sales of the Eee PC had the potential to threaten Microsoft's market share, and they decided to keep XP around to hold a place in the ultra-light market.
At the time, I wrote, "You have to credit Microsoft for being smart enough to notice that they need to adapt. But whenever they make this kind of a correction to ward off a threat, they give up a little more control. This move lends credibility to the low-cost computer movement, virtually ensuring its survival. And though they have temporarily checked the pace of Linux adoption by offering XP to ULPC vendors at a deeply discounted price, in the long run, the quantity of free Linux applications, and the reduced need for malware tools, offers significant advantages to Linux in the ultra-light market."
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.