Practical Technology

for practical people.

June 6, 2008
by sjvn01
3 Comments

Meet Linpus Linux

The number two laptop maker in the world, Acer, has joined in the Linux-powered UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) rush. Their Linux of choice for their forthcoming 512MB to 1GB of RAM mini-computers is Linpus Linux. “Linpus who,” you ask?

Linpus is not a well-known Linux distributor. You won’t even find it listed on DistroWatch‘s listing of 100 Linux distributions. Linpus is not, however, a Linux newcomer.

The company has actually been working with Linux since 1997. Its primary focus has been on research and development and offering open-source engineering services to IT and OEM (original equipment manufacturers) customers in Taiwan.

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June 5, 2008
by sjvn01
1 Comment

Will Linux force Microsoft to give XP Pro more life?

Microsoft has been forced by Linux’s popularity on UMPCs (Ultra Mobile PCs) to extend the life of Windows XP Home. My only question: How long will it take before Microsoft buys a clue and gives XP Pro a new lease on life as well?

The boys from Redmond seem to be in denial. Let me go over the fundamentals for them. 1) Vista is a flop; 2) People want comparatively low-powered, inexpensive computers; 3) Linux runs greats on these PCs; 4) Nothing Microsoft has, except for XP, will run on these PCs; and 5) Microsoft seems to think that only consumers will want these tiny laptops.

Wrong.

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June 4, 2008
by sjvn01
2 Comments

Open-Xchange’s E-Mail for the iPhone

CIOs and CTOs have a problem. Their users want to use their iPhones and iPod Touch devices for business in the worse way and there’s no good way—yet—to get business Internet applications to an iPhone or the like. Well, until now.

Open-Xchange, an open-source e-mail company that usually works with service providers, has released a new Web interface on its Open-Xchange open-source project site.

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June 4, 2008
by sjvn01
0 comments

XP lives! Sort of.

Congratulations Linux. Yesterday was the day you made Microsoft blink. Microsoft has changed its mind and has decided to keep XP Home around after all.

I’m sure that Microsoft’s change in heart was in part due to efforts like InfoWorld’s Save XP efforts, which put names to over 200,000 users who don’t want to move to Vista. I’m even surer though that what really changed Microsoft’s mind is that Linux, and not Windows, was taking over the red-hot UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) market.

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June 3, 2008
by sjvn01
3 Comments

Why Novell is cashing in on Linux

Novell made some, but not a lot of money from Linux in its second fiscal quarter, which ended April 30, 2008. The real news though isn’t the Linux income itself–$29-million–it’s that Novell year-over-year growth in Linux is up a healthy 31%.

Actually, that’s not healthy. That’s great.

While Linux remains overall a small part of Novell‘s net revenue, $236-million for the quarter, it’s SUSE Linux’s exceptionally strong growth that’s the real story.

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