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No. The actual price of Windows XP ULCPC was $11 to $15, though OEMs could get that close to zero by installing crapware. Sales soon evaporated because the hig
by scholia 10y ago
No. The actual price of Windows XP ULCPC was $11 to $15, though OEMs could get that close to zero by installing crapware.
Sales soon evaporated because the high cost of installing Linux on netbooks -- and the even higher cost of supporting them -- made them unprofitable.
Worse, a lot of those netbooks were returned, which killed manufacturers working on very slim margins.
- type0 10y agoI had one of those netbooks, it came with both XP and some sort of Linux in dual boot. The thing worked like crap though.
- digi_owl 10y agoBecause Intel freaked and pushed everyone over to ATOMs where as the early EEEPCs etc had used discount celerons. Basically Intel feared that the netbooks plus citrix would strangle the lucrative ultraportable market segment. At the same time MS gave Windows XP another stay of execution just to have a Windows option to offer OEMs (Vista was just too darn bulky). Thing is that XP, or more correctly the version of the Windows Update version it used, had a flaw where it would grow slower and slower over time as it tried to enumerate all the patches on each boot.
- scholia 10y agoIntel and Microsoft gave discounts to manufacturers who followed the agreed netbook specification, and the spec evolved slightly over time... Anybody who didn't want to follow the spec was free to do whatever they liked.