Computers below cost
Linux: Xbox Got More Than Game
By Brad King
Microsoft wants to control every living room across the country, making the computer the centerpiece of the home entertainment network. The Xbox, Microsoft's video-game console, has long been rumored to be at the core of that strategy, a dream that may soon come true thanks to a team of hackers who are transforming the game console into a home computer.
The rub is that the newly hacked system will run without any Microsoft software.
The Xbox Linux Project -- comprising programmers in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom -- began hacking a Linux operating system that would work with the game system, which now costs under $200.
With its high-speed Internet connection, DVD capabilities and hard drive, the hardware device is the perfect shell for hackers to play with, creating a low-price computer for the masses.
The Xbox hack will likely beat Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center computers -- which will come with a remote control and allow people to surf through music and videos -- to market.
"The user will not see that it's Linux; the Xbox will still just behave like a gaming console," said Michael Steil, a German developer on the project. "So these are just two possible applications: one as a computer console, one as a gaming console. (There are) additional possibilities."
The Xbox has an Intel Pentium III processor, 64 MB of RAM, 10 GB of hard disk space, a DVD drive and a USB ethernet connection. Along with the Linux operating system devised to work with the Xbox, users will need to pony up the cash for a keyboard, mouse and monitor, bringing the total cost of their new computer to under $500.
wired.com
Now THAT'S innovation.
MSFT may be an important player in the software industry someday. Or I should say "hardware" industry. Linux running on an Xbox makes me smile.
If MSFT employees were "smart" they'd be learning Linux. (I have to believe Bill and Steve use Apple ... FreeBSD ... computers.)
By the way ... REALLY SMART people work for themselves or not at all.
Thanks to wired.com
Microsoft ... now selling Linux hardware!
Best of luck. |
