Asus, The Fair Weather Friend

“Windows delivers a dependable experience that Microsoft and a worldwide community of partners stand behind.”

I was a little confused by this claim. Before you’ve even finished installing Windows on a PC, doesn’t it ask you to comply with a EULA which states that Microsoft relinquishes any responsibility for their software? Not exactly what I would call standing behind your product.

Anyhow, I will no long consider ASUS for any future purchases. The only thing at my house that works better with windows is the greenhouse.

That’s a good letter Alan,

Although I honestly doubt it will make much difference. This is just the same as the “VendorX Recommends Proprietary Home Premium Edition” crap.

The vendors are paid handsomely to say these things. It will almost certainly appear on other vendors’ promotional materials as the campaign gathers pace.

I have had a brief discussion about these “slogans” before. I do think there may be a Trades Description Act violation going on here. The companies who say these words; do they really, honestly, believe them? I think not. I think it is the cheque/rebate/kick-backs that are talking.

Any one got Nellie Kroes Phone Number?

Al

Brilliant!

If more people prefer Windows than Linux, as you say, then there should be absolutely no need for an advertisement like this.

Unfortunately we don’t actually know for SURE, how many people out there “want” Windows. The 701 sold like cupcakes and everyone knew it had Linux. Few complained about Linux saying that they’d give it a try and worst-case scenario, install Windows over the top. A survey on the Eee Forums actually showed the majority of people liked Xandros Linux and found it surprisingly easier to use than Windows. For many, it was their first exposure to Linux in general and they liked it. Many who used Windows, even die-hard fans, eventually gave up on it and returned to Xandros or some other variant of Linux, in each case finding it faster and better than Windows. All of a sudden, many anti-Linux pundits had a new-found respect for Linux as they all realised that for the first time, that Windows would not run properly on a brand new machine.

The fact remains that many PC’s come pre-loaded with Windows due to OEM arrangements with vendors, and that those who are buying a PC for the first time, unless they have a tech-savvy friend, are likely to be first exposed to Windows, or possibly a Mac. A lot of people want something that “just works” for them, ie: I want to write a letter, print it, view a photo, surf the web, etc. ANY operating system can deliver those requirements, and every user I have demonstrated Linux to has found it more intuitive and more accessible because everything is not simply done through one giant “Start” button (which frankly is annoying going through 10 levels of menus to find something, but I digress). In particular, the three biggest selling points about Linux for those I demonstrate to have been eye-candy, startup/shutdown time, and overall disk space consumed.

Microsoft’s so-called “compatibility” claim, well – Linux can read an array of disk formats and filesystems new and old whereas Windows will only read FAT and NTFS filesystems out of the box, MS Office still doesn’t have an official Open Document Format import or save function, does not like to play with other installed operating systems on the hard-drive if they are not Windows, requires a separate driver for literally every single device, etc etc etc!! Microsoft can blame themselves for this in many ways. Take MS Office, for example. Each iteration of Word from 1.0 to Office 2007 has had a large number of incompatibilities between each version so much so that people are now used to converting the document to a PDF before sending it on. OpenOffice.org already has in-built support to export to a PDF. In MS Office, it’s an extra!

Most Windows pundits pull the Games argument to support Windows. Well, I can’t see the 701 being powerful enough to run any of the latest games, and those who did get GTA Vice City and Half-Life 2 running did so with a lot of effort and number of caveats – hardly something I’d expect the average consumer to do. Take Games out of the equation and what are you left with? Not much, certainly nothing that Windows can provide an “exclusive” experience for.

At the end of the day, this advertisement exists because Microsoft want a true monopoly. It’s not enough that 8 out of every 10 people in the room are Windows users. They want all ten of them to be Windows users, and there’s no two ways about that for them! Windows is a revenue stream and they need to protect it, and the more FUD they can spread about other systems to protect their own, the better! And yes, that includes machines that can barely run Windows like the 701.

I asked them if it was available naked as I am unable to purchase computers with Windows. I suggest other people do the same.

I am sorry to see you have taken so long to see the light. I was a strong Asus supporter until I began to use Linux many years ago. I was apparent that they would not support any OS other than Windows. Numerous requests by Linux supporters could not have gone unnoticed. They have been and are still anti Linux even though they have released a Linux machine. I suspect it was easier to get it to work but that doesn’t make them a supporter just a vendor taking the easy way to market.

I AGREE!! I have a 1000H that I wiped the XP virus off, even before it could boot up one time..
Happily running Ubuntu 804 now 904.
Wish I could get my money back from the microsuck windows license that I had to pay for… GRRRR!!!

As someone who’s been using Linux of various flavours for the last 12 years (only the first year was a dual-boot, I’ve never actually used Win98/ME/Vista/7 and only used 2000/XP under duress at work) I’m not particularly surprised by this, I’m just a little disappointed it’s happened so quickly.

I can almost understand ASUS not selling the T91 with Linux, as touchscreen support would require them to actually contribute some code to the kernel/X.org to make it work well. I do hope that they are at least working on support for it as if I see a working Ubuntu Netbook Remix install for it I’ll prob buy one.

In the past I’ve attempted to convert various people to Linux, as I’ve never really had hardware problems etc, they always did and I ended up re-installing XP for them. Nowadays, it would be a different story.

But I’ve given up caring what OS the rest of the world uses, Linux works great for me and I’m of the opinion that it’d work great for pretty much anyone who doesn’t require specific software which only works on Winsux, but hey, if they want to cling to an inferior product thats their problem, it doesn’t really affect me.

But if you really want to convince hardware vendors to offer Linux as an option there’s one easy way to go about it. Demand your money back for the OEM copy of Windows they’ve bundled with your hardware. It normally requires you to remove all the M$ Stickers (not a problem ) and return everything windows related to them, but it works and you get a slight refund.

If enough people do this, hardware vendors will have to start shipping machines with Linux, because I doubt they’ll be able to get their money back from redmond..

Asustek was never a friend of the penguin. They’ve had the “It’s better with Windows” stuff on their website almost from day one. They saw an opportunity to make some money with Linux where Windows wouldn’t fit and took advantage. That’s all their support for Linux ever was and ever will be.

Oh, and yes, they still sell Linux boxes. Many netbook vendors don’t. They still brought Linux to the masses like nobody else could. We should thank Asus for that rather than throw stones.

“since Asus complained at some point that Linux computers get returned more often than XP machines”

Asus never made that complaint. In fact, both Asus and Dell said returns for Linux were similar to returns for XP.

It was MSI that said their Linux returns were four times that of the Windows returns.

if only Linux users, developers, and communities can wake up instead of blowing your own horns and writing true (but sad) letters like this, Linux may one day be THE one that pc manufacturers wanted to install by default because it cause them next to nothing.

read this (http://www.ranum.com/editorials/divide-conquer/index.html) and understand what is really happening to the Linux community. Most of what is written in the next is true and like it said, Sun is “dead” by now

Even sadder – opensuse and ubuntu is making Linux (and its users) to behave like like windows (just click on everything mentality?)

“I had the unique opportunity to sit down with a marketing exec at Dell last year and asked him specifically about the “we recommend Windows” taglines recently added to many vendor sites, to include Dell’s. Seems that Microsoft has begun to throw their weight around a bit. License pricing is being threatened in some cases and being withdrawn in others.”

If there is even a grain of truth in that statement Microsoft is breaking the law in the most open blatant way possible for a monopoly. Why the various OEM doesnt tape those conversations, save all evidence and then just march right to court is beyond me. You cant as a monopoly in any way, shape or form dictate what a vendor should carry. Not with marketing incentives, kickbacks or anything else. This is pure hot dynamite just waiting for someone to file a complaint. The browser wars would look like sandbox play if anyone took this up. Microsoft is the biggest stumbling block today standing in the way of OEMs differentiating themselves from their competitors. Without MS running the show the margins for the OEMs would be much higher.

I realize I’m inviting flames here; but this post has irked me since I first read it. I’ve been stewing on it for over a day; and I feel this typifies the problem with the Linux enthusiast’s approach.

To preface. I use various distros on my home systems. I’ve got OpenSUSE 11.1 on my Dell laptop, Xubuntu 9.04 on an older AMD Duron 1000 home build, Puppy Linux on an ancient Celeron system, and Cent0S 5 on a Thinkpad. Windows is my OS of last resort on the desktop at home, though I’m an XP user (by corporate standard) at the office. So, I bear no antipathy to the FOSS movement or the Linux OS.

That said, your approach and reaction is entirely wrong. ASUS is a corporation whose motivation is to make money. They will provide the products that make business sense. Right now there is significantly more demand for systems running Windows than Linux. As others have said before me. If you don’t want to pay the MS tax, don’t by a model that includes XP preinstalled. However, there’s no reason to assert that the preinstallation of XP or a marketing alignment between ASUS and MS is somehow a betrayal that cannot be forgiven. this is a rather juvenile line of thought.

If evidence surfaces of continued MS anticompetitive activity that suggests they are actively manipulating hardware vendors to deny people the opportunity to buy a Linux netbook. That is a different story. However, you’ve provided no evidence to suggest this is the case. All you’ve provided is that ASUS has chosen to market an OS you don’t care for as the preferred platform on some of their products. And for this, you suggest you cannot buy any of their products.

Further, you offer a point by point refutation of the supposed merits of Windows based upon Microsoft (not ASUS’s) claims. Yes, they link to the site, but that hardly makes them accountable for its content.

You refute MS on security. In general principle, I’ll grant you Linux, today, provides a more secure computing experience. It is however, hardly an apples to apples comparison.

Where I can’t follow you is in your comments on hunting for software components and on hardware compatability. This, I believe, undermines the merits of your other assertions. And this is where I see most of the problem. As I mentioned earlier, I’m running several different distros on a variety of hardware; and I had to work, for a considerable length of time, to get everything working. Yes, many distros have made great progress in the last couple of yers on hardware compatability, but the reality is that for the majority of people out there, Windows is just plain easier to get working. Even last week as I was rebuilding one of my PCs I spent a good half hour fiddling with getting Java working in Firefox. Using the default “free” package repositories I installed a completely open JRE. Fine. Free is good. But it didn’t work. It looked to be installed, but it just didn’t work.

OK, off to Sun’s site. Download the java tar ball and install the old fashioned way. Still can’t get Firefox to work. Finally, I add third party software repositories to my package manager and use it to install Sun’s Java…voila. I won’t even go into the many difficulties of getting functional drivers to work with my various wireless adapters, nor give details about my Lexmark multi-function printer/scanner which becomes a large ornament when I boot into Linux due to the complete lack of any functional driver for that particular model. Then there’s all the software that simply won’t run in Linux (even with WINE). It’s hard to tell a seven year old who wants to play shockwave games that he can’t because a gigantic corporation doesn’t share Daddy’s views on intellectual property rights.

Herein lies the problem. Once you become so convinced of a platform’s superiority that you can no longer see its weaknesses, you stop trying to improve it.

Linux is great. I help convert people over and have a pretty good retention rate. I got my completely non-technical wife using it, but of course I’m there to support her. However, turning your back on a company for *gasp* playing to the market rather than marching in lockstep to your notions of ideological purity is neither rational nor helpful. Instead of blaming ASUS for their betrayal, you should be asking why Linux seems to be blowing its big opportunity. What is it missing that the mass market isn’t ready to adopt it? Why, when face with the choice of identical hardware, will a consumer pay the extra $30-$50 to buy a netbook with XP versus one with Xandros?

Give ASUS credit for having given desktop Linux its shot at the big time. Don’t turn your back on them for trying to stay competitive. That’s really the crux of the thing. We have a free market. Linux must compete and prove its superiority, or it will remain a niche player in the desktop space. Resenting people for making decisions you don’t agree with is a terrible tactic to win their support.

It’s not the selling of Windows that’s the problem, it their outrageous claims.

Honestly, when was the last time you could describe Windows with any of these adjectives?

Nice post, I do _completely_ agree with you!

Bravo Alan, well put.

A couple of months ago I bought my wife an Asus eeePC 901, with Linux… cause she explicitly asked me for a Linux, not a Windows one. Because the only things she cared for was web surfing and word processing, and did certainly not want to slow her experience down with bothering about viruses and similar issues.

This turn from Asus is a hit in the nads for all those of us who liked seeing a nice piece of affordable hardware that would come with Linux, and thus work out of the box with it. Now I wish I had bought a MSI Wind instead.

R.I.P. Asus!

-Simon

The vendors are very hardly pressed by Microsoft. A monopoly in action..

All we can do, is to vote with our money.

I just got an crazy idea: since Asus complained at some point that Linux computers get returned more often than XP machines, we should twist that statistics: everybody should order an EeePC and then immediately, return it and complain that it did _not_ include Linux..

It’s sad that ASUS and other vendors prefer to sell their new netbooks with an outdated an insecure OS and it’s ridiculous market it as dependable and running right away.
Couldn’t agree more with you Alan!

What is it with Linux enthusiasts and soapboxes?

You like Linux, we get that. But ranting on and on about how Linux is the One True Operating System and all others are the spawn of Satan comes across as very fanboyish.

As much as your letter makes absolute sense and may be completely correct… I just did want to point out that it was the “Marketing” department that told you it’s ‘better’ with Windows… That’s just marketing. I doubt you would get the same response if you called up someone at ASUS tech support.

The problem is that MS pay a lot for phrases like that (and they expect the phrase to be exact, whether it’s completely factual or not) and even though ASUS may be a great vendor, they still of course aim to make money, and so add lines like that and link you to sites either designed by MS or approved by MS.

It’s a sad thing knowing that many people will believe it and not choose the Linux option, but it’s just the way it works when a big cheque is waved around. As you said though, just having the Linux option is a big thumbs up and a step in teh right direction… but that’s just it… a step… we’ll get there, people are finding out the truth

I was planning on buying one of these, and installing Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix, but now that they support Windows, I’m done! They obviously got paid by Microsoft to endorse their products. Another Netbook is killed by MS. And now, if I look at netbooks, all I see is Windows XP! Although, you could just not install the Windows in the first place, send in a letter, and get yourself a refund for Windows, it’s not worth the time. I just hope that in the future, people can choose which Operating System they want to be preinstalled, or if they want to install it themselves. Give the people the choice.

I hope your letter reaches them.

A little while ago, I went on a forum dedicated to the forthcoming release of Windows 7. I have slow days from time to time, and sheer morbid interest creeps in! Two things struck me instantly. Firstly, that there is an appetite for a better OS out there. Secondly, that we aren’t going about this the right way. Between ourselves, I think whinges about the evils of Microsoft are fun. However, when it comes to the task of spreading the word about FOSS to those loyal to commercial software (esp OSs), then we have a habit of wasting precious time.

I’m going to explain what I’m talking about by relating my reaction. Initially, I wanted somebody from Asus’s head on a spike for betraying the cause. And I grant you, the whole affair stings a bit. But complaining about it doesn’t help transmit the message about what we believe to be better.

So my bonus came up last month, so it’s time to get a netbook for commuting on the train. It turns out that Asus aren’t the only fruit! Dell are doing an NB with UNR for like pence, Acer do the Aspire with Linpus in a very sexy Mac aping package and Toshiba have a very mouthwatering machine Prebundled with UNR and a proud Ubuntu sticker on show. So I’ve put my money Acer’s way, and am looking forward to becoming aquinted with UNR on it (isn’t choice just fabulous?).

The thing is, because of the work Canonical are doing with Upstart and the boot I can look forward to sub 10 second boots in the future. My apps will be free of charge, but there will be a team of people working on making the installation a consistant and consistantly easy experience with Synaptic and APT. I can get my system supported by a community whose only goal is better software.

So there is plenty of choice out there in the market. The best answer to the “It’s better with Windows” is to disregard it alltogether and concentrate on “Why Ubuntu is so Utterly Freaking Amazing”.