Apricot removes Picobook Linux option

When Apricot computers announced the Picobook Pro last week, the company promised there would be Linux and Windows XP options available. But now it looks like the company has decided to remove the Linux option. Of course, there’s nothing preventing you from buying a Picobook running Windows and replacing it with your operating system of choice. But good luck getting Microsoft to send you a check for the money you spent on the unused Windows license that came with the PC.

The Picobook Pro will be available on November 1st in the UK for £299. The machine looks like your standard netbook fare, with an 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, a 60GB hard drive, and 1GB of RAM. This model sports a 1.2GHz VIA C7-M CPU and integrated Chrome9 graphics. Perhaps we’ll see future models use the faster VIA Nano processor.

So what exactly sets the Picobook Pro apart from other netbooks? According to a recent interview with MegaWhatTV, an Apricot exec says the netbook is “made of the finest materials,” and that Apricot avoided mistakes that early adopters made by waiting for the market to mature. You know, mistakes like making the touchpad too small. Oh wait, no. The Picobook Pro has a ridiculously small touchpad. You can check out the video yourself after the break.

Posted on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008, 1:45 pm by Brad Linder

DougC3

I wonder if the omission of the Linux version means they were having problems with Linux drivers for their hardware. It doesn't seem likely that MS would single them out for pressure to keep Linux off…
bolomkxxviii

No Linux & Via C7 processor. Looks like a real winner to me…NOT.
http://monkey.org/~timothy/ T. Lord

That is indeed a silly-small trackpad. On the other hand, I think the overall industrial design is pretty nice — matte black (“blacke”?) looks nice, and that intriguing Imperial-cruiser ramp-like thing leading to the screen is cool, and might be no less functional than other small-notebook designs. IMO, except for the tiny trackpad (bummer), this looks like a design that could say “ThinkPad” — more so perhaps than Lenovo's actual netbook. And the lack of pre-installed Linux is a slight pain, but not awful. Or so I tell myself, having ordered my first (regular — i.e. not an XO) netbook yesterday, and planning to wipe XP from it.

timothy
Claudio Miranda

Wow, that is one small trackpad. The Apricot rep says that they're fairly confident that it will sell well, though you can tell from his voice that he's not quite sure himself.

In a word? FAIL.
http://monkey.org/~timothy/ T. Lord

That is indeed a silly-small trackpad. On the other hand, I think the overall industrial design is pretty nice — matte black (“blacke”?) looks nice, and that intriguing Imperial-cruiser ramp-like thing leading to the screen is cool, and might be no less functional than other small-notebook designs. IMO, except for the tiny trackpad (bummer), this looks like a design that could say “ThinkPad” — more so perhaps than Lenovo's actual netbook. And the lack of pre-installed Linux is a slight pain, but not awful. Or so I tell myself, having ordered my first (regular — i.e. not an XO) netbook yesterday, and planning to wipe XP from it.

timothy
Claudio Miranda

Wow, that is one small trackpad. The Apricot rep says that they're fairly confident that it will sell well, though you can tell from his voice that he's not quite sure himself. And the lack of a GNU/Linux option is a major drawback for me.

In a word? FAIL.

Then again, since it's only being released in the UK, this won't affect me in any way.
DougC3

I wonder if the omission of the Linux version means they were having problems with Linux drivers for their hardware. It doesn't seem likely that MS would single them out for pressure to keep Linux off…
bolomkxxviii

No Linux & Via C7 processor. Looks like a real winner to me…NOT.
http://monkey.org/~timothy/ T. Lord

That is indeed a silly-small trackpad. On the other hand, I think the overall industrial design is pretty nice — matte black (“blacke”?) looks nice, and that intriguing Imperial-cruiser ramp-like thing leading to the screen is cool, and might be no less functional than other small-notebook designs. IMO, except for the tiny trackpad (bummer), this looks like a design that could say “ThinkPad” — more so perhaps than Lenovo's actual netbook. And the lack of pre-installed Linux is a slight pain, but not awful. Or so I tell myself, having ordered my first (regular — i.e. not an XO) netbook yesterday, and planning to wipe XP from it.

timothy
Claudio

Wow, that is one small trackpad. The Apricot rep says that they're fairly confident that it will sell well, though you can tell from his voice that he's not quite sure himself. And the lack of a GNU/Linux option is a major drawback for me.

In a word? FAIL.

Then again, since it's only being released in the UK, this won't affect me in any way.

Apricot removes Picobook Linux option

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