
Netbooks and the Death of x86 Computing - qhoxie
http://gigaom.com/2009/01/06/netbooks-and-the-death-of-x86-computing/
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pmjordan
The end of the x86 architecture has been announced a couple of times now, even
by intel itself. (keyword: IA-64) I'd be surprised to see non-x86 chips
succeed in the netbook arena. There's a MIPS netbook you can already buy, I
don't even know of anyone who has one. (Richard Stallman is rumoured to use a
MIPS laptop of some kind though)

To be honest, I suspect a lot of the netbooks sold with Linux today actually
end up running Windows. I think current Linux Netbooks are actually _damaging_
the reputation of Linux, because the manufacturers install shitty niche
distros. Why they can't just band together and pay Canonical some money to
optimise Ubuntu to small resolutions I will never know. (or do that for any
other mainstream desktop distro)

If there's no way to install Windows, then I suspect they're going to be a
tough sale. Also, no flash player and therefore no YouTube. Fail. (don't talk
to me about the YouTube apps on the various Apple devices. Apple "get it" a
lot more than ASUS, MSI, etc ever will)

~~~
DLWormwood
> The end of the x86 architecture has been announced a couple of times now,
> even by intel itself. (keyword: IA-64) I'd be surprised to see non-x86 chips
> succeed in the netbook arena. There's a MIPS netbook you can already buy, I
> don't even know of anyone who has one.

Seeing an article about this now really surprises me, because for the longest
time, Macs were the hold-outs against the x86 architecture on personal
computers. The first ones used 68k chips, and the late PowerPC systems was
introduced with much of the same design characteristics regarding low power
consumption, small die size, and potential scalable architecture that MIPS and
ARM processors are now attributed to having. It was just that PPC lost the R&D
war to Intel... /-:

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ojbyrne
The article lacks focus in a big way.

Freescale introduces new low-power cpu for netbooks ... signals the death of
x86 architecture... ... love my full size keyboard... personalized hardware
(for my dad)... _gestures_... so in fact freescale cpu may not succeed for
netbook but might for (reaching for hat to pull rabbit out of) _tablet for
inventory management_...

By the end, I'm left feeling that x86 computing is looking pretty damn
healthy.

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rbanffy
Actually, Linux distros can be the key to a successful non-x86 workstation.
RISC workstations more or less failed when Windows did not properly support
them - most people didn't care how fast their Alphas or PPCs are if they can't
run Office.

Now, if you have an ARM netbook that runs OpenOffice, Evolution and Firefox as
well as a x86 in a laptop that costs you $200 for a 8-hour battery life, I say
you have a major market changer. You are only bound to the x86 as long as you
are bound to Microsoft software.

I work under Linux most of the time (actually, I use Windows for 9-5 work and
Linux for the 5-9 stuff). As long as Emacs, PostgreSQL, Python, Plone and
Django are available, I really don't care about what architecture I am using.
Performance being adequate, it could be an ARM-based chip, an Intel 432 or a
zSeries mainframe and I would not notice the difference until I did a "uname
-a".

I would probably find the zSeries somewhat bulky...

