OpenSolaris Coming to Toshiba Laptops--Continuing a Trend

by Sam Dean - Dec. 18, 2008Comments (11)

Slowly but surely, major laptop vendors are taking to the idea of shipping systems with pre-loaded open source operating systems. The latest case in point is Toshiba--one of the longest-standing players in the market for portable computers--and its new plan to pre-install Sun Microsystems' OpenSolaris on its laptops. The machines are supposed to ship in early 2009, and will join several new Linux-based systems that Dell is shipping, and many Linux-based netbooks arriving from various hardware manufacturers. Will this trend continue?

As I see it, a huge part of the trend toward open source operating systems on portable computers is extreme price-consciousness among buyers. For only a little more than you pay for a Linux netbook, you can get a laptop with more hardware resources running Windows. But the fact is, the machines running open source software are cheaper--and cheaper is cheaper in this economic environment.

I'm not so sure how popular laptops running OpenSolaris are going to be. Sun has struggled to gain adoption for the operating system. But one of the reasons Linux-based netbooks are selling so well is that they come pre-installed with lots of useful open source software applications. That's the key one-two punch in the eyes of the buyer: "I save money on the hardware running the open source operating system, and I pay no money for useful applications."

Lenovo and other hardware manufacturers aren't buying into this trend as quickly as others, but as long as people stay so careful with their pennies, market share for portable computers running open source software is going to increase. eWeek has some interesting corroboration of the trend, coming from IBM. The next shoe that is likely to drop will be the availability of more offers like the Acer Aspire One netbooks now available at Radioshack for $99.  These require you to sign a monthly broadband contract with AT&T for $60 a month, but the buy-in price for the hardware is low. The Acers run Windows XP, but I won't be surprised to see Linux-based systems offered at rock-bottom prices with these types of contracts as well.

 


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11 Comments
 

Nice article Sam. Do you know what the customer support process if for these OpenSolaris laptops? Is customer service provided by the OEM, Dell or Toshiba?


0 Votes

I am impressed with the OpenSolaris 2008.11 Live CD on amd64, nvidia 8600gt sli setup.


3d desktop is immediately available.

It looks good and fast. I am looking forward to installing it very soon.


1 Votes

Solaris sucks.


0 Votes

Fantastic news...can't wait to pick one up!


0 Votes

@James - why do you say that? How big of a n00b are you? Some of the most robust systems in the world run on Solaris, and having it now be Open Source is a big win. Sure, having ANOTHER OS is not what the world needed, but the Linux Kernel can learn a lot from this too.


0 Votes

@ James - The same sentence i hear before 2k with Linux. The people said 'Linux is horrible, hardy and understable'. Now, we see Linux in everywere. The difference with Solaris is that Solaris is really tested on very big business, adn works better on Multi Proc.

I think that OpenSolaris is the new OS for business in the future.


0 Votes

I am very excited about OpenSolaris. Why?

It has been about four years since I’ve switched over to Linux. The transition was not easy! Let’s face it there is nothing easy about Linux (although it is getting better).

The problem with Linux is that, as the old saying goes, too many cooks spoiled the soup. The never-ending variety of Linux flavors and the inconsistencies among them make it very hard for most of Windows users to make an informed decision regarding the selection. After you do make a selection then good luck with untaring files and dealing with unresolved dependencies during installation of additional applications.

I my opinion, OpenSolaris addresses these problems the same way OS X did. With one exception, OpenSolaris does not call for proprietary hardware!

What else could we ask for? Developed by a top-notch company, based upon a proven OS, it’s free, in a very near future it will run practically on any hardware, and using v-box or a couple of other applications you are able to install multiple operating systems.

Sure, I still use Windows. However, the only time you can find me inside Windows environment is when I use Autodesk products, and these are being phased out and replaced by Graphisoft running on OS X. After completing this transition I will have no further use for MS software, period!


0 Votes

I've been using OpenSolaris since last spring. It is a fantastic operating system. I dont want to use OS X because I hate Apple's arrogance, secrecy, and hardware lock in. OpenSolaris is the answer to a prayer. It runs well on my ThinkPad R61 and everything works - WiFi, sound, multimedia, etc... Everything one would expect on a modern system. Anyone thinking about switching to OS X or Linux would do well to give OpenSolaris a shot first.


0 Votes

I go so fedup with my misbehaving Vista on Sony Vaio (it kepts telling me that new updates are available and would fail upgrade and rollback...) that I decided to risk installing OpenSolaris on my Sony Vaio.


I downloaded the 2008.11 build and it worked out-of-the-box, including the wifi. Except for the Lan driver, which I downloaded and installed saparately.


Thrilled, I also installed it on LG Edge 500 laptop, that works too.


OpenSolaris Rocks!!!


0 Votes

I think is a great idea but why open solaris?.ESPOL


0 Votes

I understand that opensolaris are to be sold on oem notebooks soon.I would love to see a nice high end ultra designer mini laptop with opensolaris.Think sony is making noises about its P series.


0 Votes
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