OStatic

In October, MSI's Director of US Sales delivered an interesting statistic that Linux netbooks were returned four times more often than Windows versions. It didn't seem, perhaps, an unreasonable number, but it was a bit ambiguous what data it was pulled from. I had speculated it was perhaps a market-wide number, pulled from other netbook manufacturers (and incorporating MSI's sales data on Linux netbooks internationally, as a Linux version of the Wind has not yet been released in the US).

Apparently that wasn't the case. I just came across a Laptop Magazine interview from late last month with ASUS CEO Jerry Shen. Shen says four million EeePC netbooks have been sold this year, with models offering pre-installed Windows versions rolling out in the later quarters. He says ASUS has found the return rates for the Linux and Windows models are similar. He also said that Linux has been quite popular in the European market.

Last month I wrote about the EVO Linux-based gaming console. The term gaming console seemed a bit misleading to me at the time -- it is ultimately where parent company Envizions Computer Entertainment would like the EVO to be -- but it is an early adopter system in the truest sense of the phrase.

The EVO Smart Console was originally scheduled for release on November 18th. It seems the FCC approval and testing process is taking longer than planned. Envizions expects the consoles to ship in the next two weeks. There are also two versions (in four configurations) available. Two versions? You guessed it -- Linux and Windows.

The season is nigh where many cultures across the globe observe some type of holiday that aims, in part, to reunite friends and family. If someone in the family is interested in genealogy, these gatherings are usually a prime opportunity to pull out any research, and coax some almost forgotten stories out of relatives.

Genealogists are always researching. Having had a tour of duty as a local history librarian, I've seen my share of dedicated, well-organized researchers. Most file away their information in spreadsheets or lightweight database programs. A few used programs specific to genealogical work, but I found they were few and far between, thanks to the high cost of applications that didn't necessarily offer more than a well organized spreadsheet.

I often wish I'd had the opportunity to show them GRAMPS, the open, cross platform, genealogical research software.

The UK-based charity AbilityNet announced today that it has bundled a number of open source tools to help people with a variety of disabilities more effectively use their computers.

The bundled applications are available for ﾣ16.99 including VAT (to cover costs of testing and distribution), and appear to be Windows only (though it's difficult to root out system requirements). The included software is designed to help those with a number of different needs, including dyslexia, visual impairments, and some physical disabilities.

The disk, called AccessAT, has been tested in a number of settings (home, work, and educational institutions). Some of the included open source tools are the NVDA screen reader and the Virtual Magnifying Glass.

One of the main complaints about the open source OpenOffice.org suite of productivity applications is that the individual applications are slow compared to sleeker standalone alternatives, and even slower than the comparable Microsoft Office apps. If you've run into this problem, and if you use OpenOffice but occasionally run into compatibility problems in sharing files with the Microsoft Office applications, try Go-oo.