Phoenix Technologies has signed a deal with ASUS to include their HyperSpace “instant on” OS on new ASUS laptops, including Eee PC netbooks. Hyperspace is a stripped down Linux OS that provides you access to just a few frequently used applications like Firefox, or a media player, without waiting for a full fledged OS like Windows, or Linux to boot.
“HyperSpace Hybrid […] allows you to boot Windows in the background while HyperSpace loads.”
If your OS is taking so long to boot that people want to run another OS in while they’re waiting for the main OS, something’s gone horribly wrong.
How many different Linux distributions do ASUS want to maintain?
They have the original Xandros-based OS that came with the original EeePC 7xx series.
They have the updated Xandros-based OS that came with the later EeePC models. For some strange reason, this isn’t compatible with the EeePC 7xx series OS, which has basically been discontinued.
They have ExpressGate (based on SplashTop), included with some of their desktop motherboards, and the EeeBox.
Now, they have yet another Linux-based OS.
I wouldn’t mind so much, but Asus have demonstrated that they’re either unwilling or unable to continue supporting an OS, and that they’re quite happy to make their versions of Linux largely incompatible with everyone else’s.
Why can’t they do what Dell did – have a supported version of an existing distribution, with a few of their own components thrown in. It seems like a much more sensible option to me.