Zara Baxter explains why installing Windows XP on the EeePC is a very, very bad idea.
I had to suppress a mild groan when I heard that Asus had released an Eee PC with Windows at CeBIT. (I immediately dubbed it the Wee PC, which I guess makes the Linux version the Lee PC.)
I’m assured there will be myriad benefits – my colleagues here at PC Authority spent about half an hour detailing them at me – which mostly boil down to the ability to install the thousands of Windows apps. To which I say, “Sure, if you can fit them into 8GB”.
I speak from experience: I run XP on 8GB at home, and many’s the time I’ve had to remove apps to keep my computer running smoothly.
But still, there’s no denying that all those Windows apps add a level of flexibility and familiarity for many people. To assuage my disgruntlement somewhat, the Windows Eee will come with Works installed so that users can at least get up and running with word processing and the like straight away.
However, I can’t help thinking that all of this takes away from the idea of the Eee PC as a simple, easy to use computer that’s perfect for beginners and the educational environment.
Take the streamlined interface, for example. Many kids these days first browse the internet via a mobile phone. The Linux Eee PC replicates this kind of experience with its click-and-go internet and applications. It’s just on a larger scale; everything you need to find on an Linux Eee is easy to locate, right there from the main screen.
And it’s not just kids who appreciate the simplicity. I’ve seen my geeky friends buy an Eee as a second laptop – one that their non-geek partner can use in order to avoid the hassle, expense and weight of a fully-fledged notebook.
Running Windows, even the stable and reliable XP SP2, on an Eee PC will mean a lot of day-to-day hassle that reduces the very simplification the Eee provides. Apart from Windows Updates, there’s antivirus, antispyware and firewall software to install and update. It’s hard not to think it might also reduce the fun. We’ve all had the experience of being the main troubleshooter for family computers, and the idea of avoiding all that is at least part of the appeal of the Eee.
To check that I wasn’t being a complete curmudgeon, I asked Alex Kidman, journalist and Eee user if he’d want to swap over, and he told me: “I wouldn't swap it out for a Windows one; there's nothing that I need my Eee currently to do that it can't do as it stands. The interface is simple enough for anyone to pick up, and I suspect those who held back ‘for’ Windows are likely to be disappointed, given that the Eee's nothing special hardware-wise.”
Indeed. There are no special Windows modifications for the Eee, and you’d expect those much vaunted Windows apps to run relatively slow. That’s aside from the obvious drawback running Windows XP on a screen much smaller than intended.
Maybe everyone buying an Eee will see things my way, and opt for the Linux version, but I’m not holding my breath.
Zara Baxter is PC Authority’s deputy editor. She uses Windows (XP and Vista), Linux and Mac OS X, and refuses to make a decision about which one is better. She’s waiting for the large-screen Eee. With Linux.