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Acer is preparing to unleash its first netbook running the Google Android operating system on the world before the end of the year. The netbook will be an Acer Aspire D250 laptop which will actually dual boot Google Android and Windows XP.
Honestly, I’m not entirely sure there’s a huge demand for netbooks with both operating systems, since you’ll end up paying for the Windows license anyway. An Android-only netbook would undoubtedly be cheaper. But I suppose it’s nice to have the full capabilities of Windows when you need them, but the ability to load a fast-booting, low power OS when you just need to do some light weight tasks and want to prolong your battery life.
Anyway, PC World is reporting that the dual boot Aspire One D250 should be available worldwide sometime in Q4, 2009. And you can already pre-order the laptop from Amazon for $349.99.
via Netbooked
In what way is Android low-power?
It isn’t any more inherently ‘low-power’ than any other OS.
Just that in this use case, it is configured to offer minimum resources.
The same could probably be done with embedded-XP or Win-CE.
It was worded in a rather derogatory manner here, sounding a lot like Microsoft FUD. I’d say that there’s power in not wasting resources to all the bloat that Windows brings. At its core, Android is Linux, which is definitely not a “low-power” OS.
Android must have more autonomy.How much more than Windows ?
Fast boot? How about just fast resume?
Get out your stop watch, press “on” of your O!Play remote;
time how long it takes for the indicator to turn blue.
That is how long it takes to resume Linux from flash –
about 2 to 2.5 seconds on a 400Mhz processor.
If it takes a NetBook processor longer, somebody did
something wrong in its configuration. 😉
Android on your O!Play might be interesting.
And, yes, Android will build for MIPS –
at least according to MIPS web-site it will.