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VIRTUALISATION Android Asus Eee PC due by year’s end?
VIRTUALISATION Android Asus Eee PC due by year’s end? | Android Asus Eee PC due by year’s end? |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Saturday, 21 February 2009 | |
  
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Now Bloomberg has come out with a report stating that Asus has put together a development team to official bring the Android OS to Eee PCs, although Asus aren’t yet saying whether an Android Eee will definitely be released or not. Linux has made a big impact on the netbook world, bringing Linux further into the mainstream than any other retail led Linux effort thus far, and bringing hope to Linux fans the world over that Linux’s presence would finally grow tremendously at retail level. To some degree this has occurred – Dell Mini 9’s are advertised in the US on TV and in print as coming with Ubuntu, and many retail stores (in Australia) have at least one Linux powered netbook on store shelves. But Microsoft’s ageing Windows XP operating system has fought back, and much to the chagrin of Linux users, dominates the netbook OS space much as it does for notebooks and desktop PCs. Naturally, the battle isn’t over, with Linux distro makers continuing their efforts to increase Linux’s popularity in the netbook, notebook and desktop space, but the real breakthough for widespread, “Windows-like” Linux adoption might rest with Google. If Asus and Google can work together to fine tune Android for netbook PCs, an Android powered Eee PC could be the true retail success that would take Linux powered netbooks into the stratosphere – with the rest of the netbook manufacturers rushing to join any Android netbook bandwagon. That’s not to say that Ubuntu, Xandros, SuSE and other Linux distro makers have no chance – they’ll no doubt compete with Google as hard as they can. But with Google being Google, able to offer unparalleled integration with its wide range of online services (and the ability for some of its online apps to run in “offline mode”), a true “desktop” based version of Android could be the greatest threat to Windows yet. Time, of course, will tell, and for now all signs still point to Windows 7 being the netbook/notebook/desktop OS choice for many later this year and throughout 2010, but if Google and Asus are truly successful, Android could well be the one consumer-oriented Linux distro to (finally) rule them all. |
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