OSNews: http://www.osnews.com/story/20102/Mandriva_and_PTech_Announce_Low-cost_Desktop Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:35:49 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif OSNews.com http://www.osnews.com Way to go! http://osnews.com/thread?324249 http://osnews.com/thread?324249 As I've said many times, Mandriva (aka Mandrake) really should get the credit for bringing us the easy-to-use Linux Desktop. They've been doing it for years. Hopefully, this will give them a good financial boost. A few years back, I was really worried about them. I supported them for a couple years as a Club Member, and now as a Powerpack Subscriber (after they ended the paid club membership).

I think the key to all of these new Linux pushes (EeePC, OLPC, Dell, etc) is OOB - out-of-box experience. Hoepfully they have the support staff to see new users through the rough spots. This is an area where Linux can really shine. Microsoft doesn't really support the end-users of its OS. The OEM's do, and their record is pretty spotty. If the companies like Canonical, Mandriva, etc. can give users real support, that would be a real plus over the competition.

I wonder if it would be feasible to build in remote support for some of these devices. Obviously some privacy folks would freak, but it should be easy to remove - perhaps only enable it at first boot after prompting the user (maybe an icon on the desktop). This might help some people if they get stuck. Just an idea!

[EDIT: Spelling]Edited 2008-07-23 20:43 UTC Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (fretinator) Comments Unimpressive price http://osnews.com/thread?324251 http://osnews.com/thread?324251 Given that Dell sells low cost desktops for $299 I find the pricing rather unimpressive.

It is particularly poor if the specs are the same as this:
http://store.precedent-tech.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_...

These specs are inferior to the lowest cost Dell, apart from perhaps the more sensible Atom processor.

If Windows XP is ordered in addition, the price is only $100 lower than the Mac mini, which we all know is not a 'low cost option' but still includes more memory, a Core 2 Duo and an optical drive. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (lindkvis) Comments RE: Way to go! http://osnews.com/thread?324253 http://osnews.com/thread?324253 I agree that Mandriva is way underrated. Mandriva OS is much better than its market share shows. It's a shame!
I checked PTech's website and Mandriva is not mentioned there yet. Only you-know-who. PTech may be a small company but you can insert it in the plus column. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:00:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (satan666) Comments RE: Way to go! http://osnews.com/thread?324254 http://osnews.com/thread?324254 Very few people realize that Mandriva goes the extra mile whenever possible. They were the first to have NTFS resize in install and they brought Metisse (a true 3D desktop) to the lime light. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (amjith) Comments Years... http://osnews.com/thread?324255 http://osnews.com/thread?324255 Fretinator wrote: "They've been doing it for years."

Indeed we have; ten years today, in fact. ;) I'd already submitted two MDV stories to OSNews today so I didn't want to send another, but today is the 10th anniversary of Linux-Mandrake 5.1:

http://www.happyassassin.net/2008/07/23/happy-10th-birthday-mandriv...

I also noticed that Precedent's site doesn't mention MDV at all yet. I've mailed our PR department about this to see if there's anything they can tell me about that. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:19:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (AdamW) Comments RE: Years... http://osnews.com/thread?324258 http://osnews.com/thread?324258
Fretinator wrote: "They've been doing it for years." Indeed we have; ten years today, in fact. ;) I'd already submitted two MDV stories to OSNews today so I didn't want to send another, but today is the 10th anniversary of Linux-Mandrake 5.1

Happy Birthday! I started using Linux-Mandrake when the McMillan Edition came out - it came with a book. What version was that? Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:02:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (fretinator) Comments RE[2]: Years... http://osnews.com/thread?324271 http://osnews.com/thread?324271 Happy birthday "Mandriva Linux". I think I started late. My first introduction was with Mandrake 8.0 (I think it was in 2002). Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:50:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (amjith) Comments Macmillan http://osnews.com/thread?324273 http://osnews.com/thread?324273 fret: I honestly don't know. I'd guess somewhere around 8.x. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (AdamW) Comments Competition http://osnews.com/thread?324274 http://osnews.com/thread?324274 I dunno, if Dell produces on that EeePC-ripoff mini laptop and sells it for $299, I can't see this thing selling very well for $399.99. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:04:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (sb56637) Comments RE: Unimpressive price http://osnews.com/thread?324276 http://osnews.com/thread?324276 You need to add a 3 years warranty to your cheap Dell or Apple to be fair. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:11:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Ventajou) Comments RE: Macmillan http://osnews.com/thread?324384 http://osnews.com/thread?324384
fret: I honestly don't know. I'd guess somewhere around 8.x.


I found it, it was version 6.0:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1999_June_17/ai_5491... Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:44:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (fretinator) Comments RE[2]: Macmillan http://osnews.com/thread?324402 http://osnews.com/thread?324402 See? I told you I didn't know ;) Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:12:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (AdamW) Comments