There was a time when it looked like the rise of low cost netbooks would finally lead to the rise of Linux as a consumer operating system. Then Microsoft slashed Windows prices for PC makers building netbooks and the rest is history. But there’s still a niche market for netbooks that ship with Linux, or with no operating system at all.
French retailer LDLC is getting in on the action with a netbook that ships without an operating system for about 260 Euros and up. It’s actually even cheaper if you forego the memory and hard drive.
The LDLC Mercure NB1 netbook has a 1.5 GHz Intel Atom N550 dual core processor and a 10.1 inch 1024 x 600 pixel display. On the company blog, LDLC recommends installing Joli OS, a Linux-based operating system initially designed to run on netbooks.
We’ve following Joli OS and Jolicloud for the past few years, but this is one of the first times I can remember a PC distributor recommending the OS — unless you count the Jolibook from VYE computers, the only netbook I’m aware of to actually ship with Jolicloud preloaded.
via Blogeee
I like computers without an operating system. I am a fan of eComStation – https://www.ecomstation.com – which is an updated version of IBM’s OS/2 Warp. It is nice not to pay for an OS if one is only going to over write it. 🙂
“It’s actually even cheaper if you forego the memory and hard drive.”
Let’s hope so!