Acer dual-OS Android/XP netbook coming next month?

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Shane McGlaun14 July 2009, 5:22 PM

Mr. Roboto netbook may hit store shelves next month from Acer.


I am not so much excited about the idea of Google's Android operating system running on a netbook as I am curious to see if the Google name attached to it makes the computer-wielding masses more likely to buy an alternate OS. I suspect seeing a netbook sitting on the shelf festooned with Google's logo may make a low cost netbook more attractive to users.

Note, this is not a netbook running Google's forthcoming Chrome OS; it's Google's smartphone OS shoehorned into a netbook. The only way I would try a netbook with Android if I were spending my own cash on the rig would be if it ran Windows as well, which is exactly what Acer is planning to offer. DigiTimes reports that Acer is set to launch its dual-OS netbook with Windows XP and Android next month.



The publication cites sources who claim that Quanta Computer and Compal Electronics are both filling orders for the dual-OS machine. There have been no rumblings on the price of the Android/XP netbook but we can assume it will cost more than the Acer XP only equivalent machine. We can only hope that the price difference isn’t too much, I think if Acer can keep the cost within $20 of a machine with XP only it may woo some new users to try Android. We first heard about Acer's Android ambitions last month.

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Phred (Cornerstone member):

And the benefit of this would be?

I don't see the need to put run an OS designed for a mobile phone onto a Netbook, other than 'because we can'.

15 July 2009, 8:53 AM (8 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

petert (Senior member):

Quoting Phred:
I don't see the need to put run an OS designed for a mobile phone onto a Netbook, other than 'because we can'.

There has been a lot of interest generated in non-MS OSes, even though they might not have achieved the sales results anticipated. One of those OSes generating interest is Android. One benefit of supplying the netbook with two OSes would be that it leads to only one SKU, which is much cheaper than two! Another point of interest for users might be start-up time. I've not used Android but I suspect that it would boot much faster than XP or Vista, which would be a real benefit for anyone wanting to do simple tasks (such as using a web-browser) that do not require specific Windows software.

To my mind, trying this is a good idea.




15 July 2009, 6:50 PM (8 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (Senior Forumologist):

Quoting Phred:
I don't see the need to put run an OS designed for a mobile phone onto a Netbook, other than 'because we can'.


You've either not used a netbook, not used Android, or both. Small OSes are perfect for small devices. Windows is neither a small OS, nor is it very good at low screen resolutions.

15 July 2009, 11:04 PM (8 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Phred (Cornerstone member):

Quoting Tin:
You've either not used a netbook, not used Android, or both

I actually gave 'Android Live' a run in VM last night, and I'm impressed by how fast and responsive it is. But I still see it as a 'because we can'.

16 July 2009, 10:28 AM (8 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

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