Qualcomm Shows Off Snapdragon Smartbooks

You've got to love these systems which won't run Windows. Now let's just hope they are done well and priced to compete.

I'm afraid were near the point where Microsoft releases $15 WinXP for MIPS and ARM. They had 8 year time to develop such a thing; even such an inefficient company as Microsoft should be able to do so.

Hans: Certainly they could have done it in the last eight years. I don't think they did. I don't think anyone foresaw MIPS and ARM chips coming into the laptop (and now desktop) market in any form. Microsoft has been caught flat footed on this one.

Microsoft today did display exactly how they are going to combat these systems. Nope, it's not an ARM version of Windows. Asus announced that their ARM-based Eee PC on display on Computex yesterday is dead and they've pulled the laptop. While they say it's due to limited engineering resources I have to wonder what threat Microsoft used or what payoff was made. This is the "better with Windows" company all. Microsoft couldn't have them making ARM based systems, could they?

I've submitted the news article about this to LXer. Hopefully Scott or Sander will have it appear later today.

Quoting:Hopefully Scott or Sander will have it appear later today.

I decided to make myself useful, take some of their burden and actually do what an LXer editor is supposed to do. So yes, it will appear later today.

Thanks, Hans. I very much appreciate it.

Future queue is really full at this moment; it may take some while.

...or you can add stories a bit faster :)

FWIW, I just submitted the Cyber Cynic take on the Asus/Android fiasco at Computex. It's a good read. For those who don't want to wait for it to make it through the queue:

http://blogs.computerworld.com/microsoft_strikes_back_at_lin...

Or visit brand x! I posted it hours ago!

:D

Yep, but this story deserves to be posted EVERYWHERE! It's a wake-up call.

Would you be able to run windows in a virtual environment ( vmware--virtualbox etc )

Sorry if the question is dumb

It might run in Bochs, a fully software-simulated x86 environment. But it wouldn't know how to deal with the actual CPU.

And if it would run, it would be about as fast as a 4.77 MHz PC could handle. Maybe.

gus3: How much do you know about the Snapdragon? It's a processor I'm really not familiar with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapdragon_(processor)

It's ARM-based.

...So ESR's blog title was a prediction about Linux vs Windows?

gus3: Thank you. Lots of ARM boxes at Computex then. I wonder if we will see any with Texas Instruments' implementation as well.

I haven't owned a cell phone in years because I hate them. They cost too much, they're too small for serious Web use and I don't want to lug around a satchel full of devices. But I think I could like a netbook if it had good software installed, 3G, and a Bluetooth phone headset. Then I have it all-- easily luggable, a real computer with a real keyboard and screen, and a phone. Seems like a winning combination to me.

I already really like my netbook. I had one with a 7" screen and I agree it's a good form factor. It'll be interesting to see what these ARM/Snapdragon systems are like. I may have a MIPS-based system here for review soon too :)

> I already really like my netbook.

Meredith still likes her EEE 4G, and I'm pleased so far with my Dell Mini 9. They're perfect for taking on trips, both short and long.

@jdixon: I'm glad you're satisfied with them. If, for any reason, you decide to move away from Xandros Presto on the Eee I was very impressed with Debris Linux, a slimmed down distro based on Ubuntu, which I reviewed for DistroWatch this week. It installs in only 850MB which would leave a lot of space on that 4GB SSD for additional apps or data.