$199 Lindows-based PC

I still have not seen Lindows in action. I went to their web site and they wanted $99 to join the society of which one benfit is getting the SW.

But if Lindows is close enough to Windows, then that sounds like a good option.

Part of it is the neighbor factor, It might be worth an extra $200 so that I can ask my neighbor how to fix something because they are 5% more litertate in Windows than I am. But if Lindows is different enough where they need to hunt someone down for help on moving a file it will be a problem. Where is that FREE copy of lindows so I can "Evaluate it"

I wonder how long a $199 computer is expected to last. My assumption is that the PC will not be running 3-4 years later like the $600 entry level computers might (or might not) Maybe it is like some of those new Battery Powered Tooth brushes, when the brush wears out, just throw it out and but another one. Maybe $199 every 2 years isn't tooo bad for most people?

If just using unused older parts that will be obsolete sooner than it should last as long as any PC. But having done support so long I've learned that memory and other power supplies and cables are not all made equal and if they skimp on quality below a certain point those machines will not last long without repairs. How are they getting the price down to $199 (I just assume low quality parts???) Kind of like the Yugo auto, cost $5000, but any accident could often cost $4000 to repair. The beneift of the product went down the drain. If they use sub-par parts, it may cost them $50-$100 just to bring the PC in for repair every 6 months, making it not such a great deal.

I remember Compaq came out with a real inexpensive home model (must have been around 1995, one of the first $999 PCs). I recommended it to several people based on my corporate experience, and boy was that a mistake. Everyone I know who bought it (monitor included) had several parts failure within 6 months. Looking inside the case, it was obvious that for this unit Compaq did not mean quality.

But again this is all conjecture. Until someone actually opens up one of these babies and gives up what is really going on inside (as well as inside the OS)

Doesn't Lindows allow use of RPMs? With RPMs, installing Linux software is no harder than installing Windows software. Even with precompiled binaries that aren't hard. It's no different from Windows, RPMs are like having a Windows installer, precompiled binary packages are like having the software with no installer, and source code only programs aren't any harder (in fact I think they are easier) to compile on Linux as such programs for Windows are.

The DIFFERENCE is... More Linux programs are only available as source, and far less have an installer (are RPMs). But I think again, it's learning Danish vs. learning English. I don't think Linux is harder to learn as a first "language". I think it's hard to learn after knowing Windows. In a similar way, I'd say Windows is probably going to be hard for someone who buys one of these boxes as their first PC and only learns Windows.