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A Taiwanese computer maker on Thursday said it is shipping low-cost laptops to the United State that run a desktop version of the Linux operating system.
Priced at $699, the laptops from Taipei-based Elitegroup Computer System Co. Ltd. run Lindows.com Inc.s LindowsOS Laptop Edition, its desktop Linux tailored for mobile devices, Lindows.com announced this week.
Elitegroup is shipping 300,000 of the model A535 laptops for the U.S. market. The laptops weigh six pounds and include built-in Wi-Fi support for 802.11b networks.
The laptops run on an Advanced Micro Devices Inc. 4, 1400+ processor and consist of 128MB of on-board memory that can be upgraded to 640MB. They are equipped with a 2.5-inch hard drive with up to 80GB of storage.
“This 300,000 deployment demonstrates that 2004 will be the year of the Linux laptop,” said Michael Robertson, chief executive officer of San Diego, Calif.-based Lindows.com, in a statement.
The deal between Lindows.com and Elitegroup comes despite Microsoft Corp.s ongoing trademark dispute with Lindows.com. Microsofts U.S. trademark infringement case against Lindows.com is expected to reach a trial this year, while a Swedish court last month awarded Microsoft a temporary injunction against Lindows.com as the dispute moved overseas. Discuss This in the eWEEK Forum