- Fact: Vista is not the right choice for a Ultra Mobile PCs unless you need handwriting recognition.
- Fact: Linux is not an option for pro-mobile users.
- Fact: Ultra Low Cost PC’s focus on cost and not mobility features.
- Fact: XP is the best choice of operating system for a pro-mobile device.
So when Microsoft prevents OEM’s from shipping a standard build of XP with a UMPC and then makes an exception for ULCPC’s it kind of stinks. When they then offer discounts to ULCPC OEMs and specifically block-out mobile devices that use touchscreens (every single X86-based mobile device I have tested, except one, had a touchscreen) it gets offensive.
Pro-mobile users don’t number in the millions like ULCPC customers but they do exist. This website is proof of that. Should these customers be forced into a position where they have to buy a Windows Vista Business based device and then run around to try and find drivers so that they can then spend hours doing the upgrade to Windows XP? Should OEMs in the pro-mobile market be forced to design around notebook processors that are capable of running Vista and thus being hit with design limitations and cost issues?
Not at all.
The answer might lie in developments going on inside Microsoft. Windows Mobile for X86 for example. Componentised Vista or even a re-badged Windows XP ‘mobile’ but right now it looks like the Ghz-class touchscreen UMPCs will suffer a big blow. VIA’s 1Ghz C7, the Celeron 900, the Intel A100 and A110, the Geode LX800 and LX900 and most of the new Intel Atom range are processors that give acceptable and in some cases, surprisingly good real-world performance characteristics under XP but are rendered near-useless under standard Vista builds.
2 years ago, Microsoft created the Origami device specification that included exactly these processors and included the very touchscreens that are now being blocked by them from using the best operating system choice that existed. I wonder how Otto Berkes, the father of Origami, feels about that?
May 12th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
ULCPC = no touch screen?!?
I’d better get round to buying that Everun before Raon aren’t able to sell it any more after the end of next month. Not expecting the Atom-based-Everun-II-Vista experience to be any better than the Geode-based-Everun-XP experience, so why wait?
I guess Raon might continue selling the existing Everun, but changing the operating system from XP to Linux.
Seriously, how stupid are Microsoft?
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May 12th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
I don’t understand the facts.
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May 12th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
This is why I migrated to a MacBook and an iPhone, leaving Windows and UMPC’s behind. Now I have a system that works and a truly mobile set-up with what is currently the best web browsing in my pocket.
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May 12th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
:%s/Fact/Myth
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May 12th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
I guess it’s pretty logical. They messed up with Vista, but since they really really want to get rid of the XP to help sales of Vista and since they couldn’t come up with an better solution they are trying to limit (as much as possible) where XP can still be sold.
Basically they figure that ULCPCs are “mass market” so they need the presence and the rest is not important.
I guess at the end istead of helping Vista sales, Microsoft will manage to help the sales of Linux…
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May 12th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
I somewhat agree with this article. It is true Microsoft sometimes neglects what the community is really crying out for. If they were to listen more they could deliver properly what is needed.
That aside. Vista Embedded has been terribly delayed and would be perfect for this situation.
I’ve also thought XPe would be a better fit than XP Pro. Especially for SSD devices with limited space.
So we really need a componentized Vista which is what XPe is and Vista Embedded is supposed to be.
About Windows Mobile x86. This is *not* new at all. Actually WinCE kernel on x86 is probably like 10 years old. We just never had x86 chips small enough / efficient enough for mobile devices.
Some industrial devices do however run this platform but the numbers are the smallest of all CE based devices in comparison to ARM, SH3, etc.
Windows Mobile is a viable option, the main thing missing is a better UI (WM7) and browser / more apps.
Ideally Vista Embedded with an Origami / Windows Mobile home screen like interface but more functional for larger devices is what I envision being the best match. Unfortunately there’s no talk of any of this going on.
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May 12th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
This represents the last nail in the coffin for UMPCs. ULCPCs will be restricted to 80 GB hard drives to qualify for the special XP discounts. Like snave I’m switching from a PC, in my case a Samsung Q1 Ultra, to a Macbook. I already use an iPhone. MS has become overly bureacratic and just plain slow. Good riddance!
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May 12th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
MS has no incentive to please customers. They can make a million enemies and not notice it on the bottom line. Why? Because they are a monopoly!
The only reason for the ULCPC response is that EEE was a runaway hit without Windows. As long as they can prevent Linux from taking off, they’re fine with complaints from a few customers.
And they DEFINITELY don’t care if you get a Macbook. That’s a boutique product. What they need to prevent are cheap clamshell packages of EEE hanging on pegs near the checkout of Walmart.
I have proof that MS is pursuing the right strategy. It’s in your assumption that the solution is for MS to pay more attention to its customer needs. As long as you complain to MS that they need to do something, MS is clearly doing the right thing. It’s only when you’re prepared to defect to something cheap that they need to change. You (a lot of you) have to want a touchscreen Linux EEE in order to get the XP you really want.
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May 12th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Its not going to last. It won’t take long before more company’s start to complain that they can’t use the cheap XP on there UMPC touchscreen device.
Or they’ll start shipping there UMPC with the touchscreen disabled, and all you need to do is, is some small update/drive, whatever to enable it again. Its been done for ages to get past some of those limitations…
To be honest, you can tell the license is written for the EEE.
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May 12th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Apple’s US PC market share has recently increased. At most retail and online stores the only choices people have are Windows and sometimes Mac unless they opt for a ULCPC. Few retail and online stores sell desktops or laptops with Linux pre-installed. The 2 exceptions are the eee PC and HP’s Mini Note. Relatively few assemble their own PCs, especially laptops.
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May 12th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I love XP, I do. It’s MUCH better to use than stupid ugly Vista. BUT: Handwriting recognition is a HUGE DEAL, esp. when talking about an OS for touch-capable UMPCs.
So as bad as Vista is, Handwriting recognition is a huge issue to consider before shooting it down.
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May 12th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
MS only did a 180 and let Asus put XP on the EEEPC because Linux was getting competitive in that area. Linux is not a good tablet OS (neither is a MacBook, not to mention they are huge). Until people start making good tablet Linux distro, MS is not going to give a damn about the need of the niche users.
Somebody need to port Nikia’s Maemo Linux distro to X86. In fact, Nokia should make their Mk.V (n810 is Mk.III according to them) internet tablet an Atom based tablet. It only make sense!
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May 12th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Is Microsoft saying that they won’t license XP for mobile devices which have touchsceens? Or is Microsoft saying that they won’t make ultra low cost XP licenses available for devices which have touchscreens?
If pro-mobile devices are expected to be more expensive than their consumer counterparts, Microsoft may simply be trying to get their cut. This is assuming they will license XP at all. If Microsoft really means to end-of-life XP, then, of course, that’s different.
As someone else said, this may simply be Microsoft’s way of ensuring that machines with touchscreens run Vista rather than XP. Lots of people have said horrible things about Vista. The one thing everyone agrees on though is that it has superior handwriting recognition, and more support for gestures.
Having said that, I think creating arbitrary limits is a bad idea. What is top of the line today may be tomorrow’s low cost part. (If we believe Moore’s Law, low cost computers which run Vista well will eventually exist.)
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May 13th, 2008 at 12:58 am
It will backfire on them. But also greatly grow the ULCPC market.
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/microsofts-ulcpc-nazism-good-news/
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May 13th, 2008 at 2:26 am
You are right about the OS Vista not ideal for mobile devices, Linux is just not for the mainstream, XP is probably the best for mobile devices.
What I think is Microsoft’s biggest mistake with origami is to limit and direct too much to the OEM’s hardware visions. They should just stick to the OS try to make it flexible for a variety of sizes and shapes and not demanding on power and cpu. Rather than telling the market how they think the hardware they should have let the market do that.
They were completely wrong with the mainstream wanting 7″ slates. To me while that is ok for some, the mainstream wants what UMPC’s have failed to deliver. That is just a small version of what they find the most popular mobile device a laptop. Everyone uses a touch type keyboard so UMPC should have that but also have touch screen too. They should be more like the clamshell handhelds a jacket size laptop with a touch type keyboard running full windows XP.
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May 13th, 2008 at 7:47 am
hehe, something tells me vitel takes offense about that linux bullet point.
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May 14th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Those are interesting facts… if only they were true-facts.
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