It looks like Windows 7 Starter Edition won’t be the only OS available for the MSI Wind U135 netbook. Computer World reports that MSI will also offer a new version of SUSE Linux based on Moblin 2.1.
Moblin offers a framework for a light weight Linux distribution optimized for netbooks with Intel Atom processors. It boots quickly and has a widget-based user interface designed for small-screen devices. The Wind U135 reportedly boots in just about 30 seconds. That’s the amount of time it’s supposed to take from the moment you hit the power button to the moment when your device is up, running, and connected to the internet and ready to browse the web.
The Linux version of the Wind U135 will be available in February. What’s interesting is that this isn’t the first time MSI has released a netbook with SUSE Linux. The Wind U100 and Wind U90 were available in some areas with SUSE, but MSI stopped offering that option a while back. It should be interesting to see whether the netbook-specific Moblin interface makes Linux a more viable option for MSI and other netbook makers.
Good and wise move. Not everybody wants Windows.
I am sure also this would also cater for the huge proportion of people who own pirated Windows and believe in buying a cheaper non OS machine.