News Freescale to launch netbook CPU

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2009/01/06/freescale-to-launch-netbook-cpu/1

Freescale is to launch a new CPU - the i.MX515 - based around ARM's Cortex-A8 system and aimed at the netbook market.

 

If the price is attractive on these products, then I'm pretty sure they'll hit main stream.

 

It looks a good idea especially if its cheap with that long battery life. Only problem i can see is you'd have to compile every thing you wanted to use on it out side of the repo's.

 

no x86 = no mainstream appeal. Nobody will buy it when it is sitting next to a windows-based Atom, unless it is half the price, which i dont believe.
It's a shame, really, but for Linux to be pervasive manufacturers need to ship some hybrid stuff first, or launch full-scale PR-campaigns to get some big corporate clients: people use what they use at work.

 

'Sadly'? Not really..

 

I for one would love a non x86 netbook, I'd pay for it just for the lack of ability to install Windows.

 

And what platform/chipset will it be accompanied by?Surely it won't be pin-compatible with Intel's chip?

 

Maybe no mainstream appeal, but with a 16 hour battery with a 6-cell and no moving parts some people would certainly buy it.

Like, me, for instance.

 

I am sure you could have some form of Window CE on it, though why you would want to is beyond me.
Anyways, sounds good to me even if it is rather similar to other things on the market, like the processor behind the Beagle Board (that I still want)

 

The only vaguely Unix-derived OS that I've found worthwhile using on a laptop (or desktop for that matter) is OS X, Linux still just isn't ready for the mainstream. It's come a long way since I first tried Redhat 5.1 but I still see it as a hobby OS for the desktop.

I swear by Linux for servers and embedded applications, but OS X and Windows still absolutely kill it for mainstream desktop/laptop use and I can't see that changing anytime soon.

Sadly, because of this, I expect tales of this CPU's unexplored potential will be told in years to come when it's long dead

 

The battery life is commendable... if it lives up to its claims. Yet, I agree that the inability to run a Windows OS will not make it mainstream. Longer battery life is very attractive to traveling business people, but what percent of those travelers do not use Windows or other Microsoft applications in their respective companies?

 

Why would it need to run windows? Have you seen windows XP on a 1ghz processor with <1mb of L2 cache? Yeah not so good eh...

 

it needs to run windows because that is what people use at work. People will use that same thing at home too, because only 1% of the population is interested enough to even give anything else a thought.

Sad and injust as it might be, to the general public a PC without Windows sounds like a car without tires.

 

Ran alright on my P3-933 at the time!

 

The netbook market seems the right place for Linux to get it's foot in the door. It loses mass market appeal in more powerful machines due to incompatability with a gamut of software, but for something thats just a browser platform it would be a great choice.