14 DAY TRIAL // Wal-Mart has decided to end selling Linux-based computers in stores, because they didn't attract the attention the company was looking for. These machines will still be sold through the Walmart.com website, though.
Mellisa O'Brien, spokeswoman at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said: "This really wasn't what our customers were looking for." The company started testing the demand for Linux-based systems in late October, last year, when it stocked the Green gPC, from Everex, in approximately 600 stores. The Walmart.com e-commerce site will continue to sell the gPC, just as before, so don't despair, 'cause you still can get it, although you can't buy it directly from the store.
Although all the gPCs were sold, the company decided not to restock. Paul Kim, brand manager at Everex, considers selling the gPCs online a far better solution than selling it in stores. The newer version, gPC2, is featured on the Walmart.com website, without a monitor. You can also find the CloudBook laptop, another product from Everex. Wal-mart started distributing the small notebook a month ago.
Speaking of the CloudBook, it seems that it has been launched a little bit prematurely, because it has a few problems, especially with the setup process, as users reported that the screen size was wrong, or the OK button was inaccessible. Besides the installation process that's not so user-friendly, the wireless connection brought more problems, because it rejected the standard WEP key, running only in an open network, thus bringing some security risks.
If you are wondering why the systems created by Everex are not very expensive, it's because of the fact that Linux doesn't require a licensing fee, like Windows does. The manufacturers have to pay to Microsoft, if they want to sell machines with XP or Vista pre-installed (we're taking the older version out of the picture, because they are no longer supported by the Redmond-based giant).