Wal-Mart's $200 Linux Computer Sold Out
Wed Nov 14, 2007 11:30AM EST
See Comments (18)
It may not have the cachet of the $200 OLPC laptop, but it does have much wider availability. Or, at least, it did: Wal-Mart's $199 desktop from Everex, stripped down in specs, running Ubuntu Linux, and touted as "green" due to its low power consumption, has sold out of its initial production run of 10,000 machines after a week.
The Everex TC2502 gPC includes a 1.5GHz Via V7-D CPU, 512MB of RAM, and an 80GB hard drive. With Windows you'd have a long wait just getting this setup to boot (much less run any apps), but with Ubuntu everything's fine. The computer is also preloaded with a bundle of Google apps, OpenOffice, and more, the idea being to give Linux newcomers (which, at Wal-Mart, is going to be just about everyone) all they need to get going with the new OS. Everex is even offering Wal-Mart buyers free tech support on their new computers.
Ten thousand units may be a drop in the bucket in the PC world, but it's still a strong indicator that demand for Windows alternatives is on the rise, after years of Linux failing to make a dent in the mainstream. As more vendors jump into the Linux fray, could we possibly see Microsoft's decades-long dominance start to whither?
You don't need new hardware to give Linux a try. Ubuntu is a free download and installs easily on many PCs. Most users will likely find that burning an installation disc (which you have to do in Windows, before you install it) is the most complicated part of the operation. (Hint: Grab ISO Recorder here, first.)
Have you made the jump? Post your Linux success (or horror) stories here and let us know how you've fared with it.
Comments on Wal-Mart's $200 Linux Computer Sold Out
Post a Comment
Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.
-
2 Posted by lbarowski on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:57PM EDT Report Abuse
no, and yes
-
3 Posted by gtmiller5337@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:14PM EDT Report Abuse
Go with an IBM refurbished Pentium IV machine using XP pro. Why mess around. You are in efcect buying an XP Pro license and getting a computer for free. $250.00
-
4 Posted by roofoofighter on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:51PM EDT Report Abuse
Well, there is Cedega that allows you to play most Windows games, but it isn't free... I believe it is subscription based, and $5 per month. http://www.cedega.com/
-
5 Posted by agustin2489 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:47PM EDT Report Abuse
Actually, you could run windows game on a linux machine. You just need to run a virtual machine running windows and play the game off of it. Haha! Otherwise you could do what your second question asked.
-
6 Posted by zuul023 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 11:02PM EDT Report Abuse
Yeah you could do that.. hopefully you have the RAM needed to do so.
-
7 Posted by klacour on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:52PM EDT Report Abuse
@gtmiller: Why spend $250 on a used P4 witha Windows license, when you can get a P4 without a Windows license for about $100 (http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Optiplex-GX-240-P4-1-7GHZ-512MB-CDRW-XP_W0QQitemZ250185097208QQihZ015QQcategoryZ140070QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) Add a hard drive, put free linux distro of your choice on it, and you're ready to go. Or go to Wal-Mart, and pick up a brand new PC with support for $250. It would seem everyone that wants a Windows PC has a Windows PC.
-
8 Posted by super_dave_1984 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:49PM EDT Report Abuse
I think that until the gaming industry starts making Linux versions of every game much like there is a PS3, XBox, etc. Linux will still be a very small market share.
-
9 Posted by seanryan41 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:10PM EDT Report Abuse
Ubuntu is a great Linux distro. Anyone looking to experiment should definitely give it a shot!
-
10 Posted by kupriaa1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:54PM EDT Report Abuse
One of the greatest benefits of all linux platforms is the cost factor. The problem though will always be the lack of applications that run on top of it and certainly the lack of hardware support. Even though this has come a long way over the years, it is still not perfect. So for most people (myself included) linux provides an alternative cheaper solution to Windows for specific needs. For most users though, the lack of app and hardware support is a real deterrent.
1 Posted by jairaj on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:27PM EDT Report Abuse
I've always wondered: 1. Can you use linux and still play games built for windows (using some kind of bridge software)? 2. Can you set up both windows and linux on your computer with a start up option which system you want to go into for that session?