[FOSS] Thoughts on $199 Desktop PC at WalMart

[Billy Davies]

Since the first of November, WalMart has been offering a $199 desktop pc (no monitor included) via their online website.  I believe it can be purchased online with delivery arrangements to your local WalMart.  The web address is 
- http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=7754614 -

This new offering is creating quite a buzz in the world of low-cost computing and in the FLOSS (Free/Libre Open Source Software) - http://flosstoday.com/ - world.  

Why?

Primarily because it runs gOS - http://www.thinkgos.com/ - instead of WindowsXP or Vista or other proprietary os.  

gOS is new and is "An alternative OS for the masses".  gOS may stand for green Operating System or it may stand for Google Operating System.  That's for the bloggers to sort out. 

Do I like the pc?  

Yes, it is an ideal pc for 3 out of 4 computer users.  It can't compare to the $4000 gaming pc that your son wants for Christmas or the $2800 media center pc that your brother-in-law just had installed in his home theatre. 

That is not the target market.

Most people are not gamers and I only know a handful of people with a home theatre. 

Word-processing, e-mail, internet, flickr, slide presentations, blogger, etc are all available and are more than adequate for most users.  

The pc does fall into the category of "Internet appliance" as it requires a broadand internet connection.  Goodby dial-up, hello cable/dsl.  

Is it a google pc?  Google has long used a GNU/Linux/Ubuntu-based operating system in-house.  This may very well be a marketing test to see how much interest there may be for google to enter the os world.  

Meanwhile anyone looking for a quality, low-cost pc can take advantage of this bargain.


Billy
http://www.FLOSSToday.com
http://www.BillyDavies.com
http://www.GBZTechnology.com