So we're looking at doing the free cheap PC with broadband..

Idea for signing up for a year of service...

I've got a Celeron 2.4ghz 256mb PC with a DVD/CDRW, 80gb Hard Drive, Onboard Intel Video, 17" Monitor.. pretty cheapy pc..

Right now I'm testing it with Sun Java Desktop which we can bulk license for pretty much next to nothing..comes with Star Office 7 (which seems decent) and Mozilla 1.4?

Ok..so my question is is that this site under Mozilla looks very different than IE.. everything is very strangely spaced.. things are far apart.. but then text boxes are tiny and shrunk together. I dunno its very strange..

Or perhaps thats the way its supposed to be...and IE borks it?

I think doing the ""cheap pc"" with broadband package is a great one, provided it''s profitable for you. The only thing I see is that you really should get windows on there. I know, costs a lot, evil, evil, etc. but I think the kind of person that would spring for this deal wants the same thing their friends have. Just my opinion.

Gotta admire the pluck of whomever wants to market this stuff.

Ok..so my question is is that this site under Mozilla looks very different than IE.. everything is very strangely spaced.. things are far apart.. but then text boxes are tiny and shrunk together. I dunno its very strange..

Are you referring to GWJ? Looks pretty normal to me under Mozilla/Firefox. The spacing indeed looks different in IE, however, if I compare them directly I think it actually looks better in Moz/FF because the boxes look a bit more weird in IE.

EDIT: Screenies added. 1st pic: Moz/FF 2nd pic: IE6

IMAGE(http://home.t-online.de/home/520024258500/temp/gwjmoz.jpg)IMAGE(http://home.t-online.de/home/520024258500/temp/gwjie.jpg)

Now that the components are freakishly cheap, bundling a free or near-free PC with service makes a lot more sense than it did during the original wave of Internet mania. I''m dubious about the ability of a general market customer to work with Linux, though... Prepare for lots of ""Why can''t I install Wild Game Hunter 2005? It said ''For PCs'' on the box at Wal-Mart!""

As far as the site under Mozilla, now you know the plight of web developers/designers. Same site, same code = somtimes very different results under different browsers. As I understand it, almost every site will *work* under the bigger-name browsers, but may look very different. I believe there are some sites that explicitly demand IE/Netscape, so your customers may be completely unable to access them without twiddling with browser emulation settings.

I view this site regularly under alternative browsers: Safari, OmniWeb, Mac FireFox, Windows FireFox, & Camino. They all render it pretty much the same.

I do have problems logging in with OmniWeb though..

"baggachipz" wrote:

I think doing the ""cheap pc"" with broadband package is a great one, provided it''s profitable for you. The only thing I see is that you really should get windows on there. I know, costs a lot, evil, evil, etc. but I think the kind of person that would spring for this deal wants the same thing their friends have. Just my opinion.

Bagga speaks the pure and unadulterated gospel truth. You''d be better off selling them a quarter as much hardware speed/power in order to get Windows on there. Anyone who''s going to use a free computer isn''t going to know how to use it.

Bundling with Windows XP Home is a no brainer...there would be very litle testing to make that decision...just making some customizations to the browser etc..

We''re evaluating how feasible it is to bundle with a Linux Desktop...

In the end its 90% likely it will be Windows XP...but you dont make Microsoft sweat a bit and give you a better price if you simply show your hand immediatly.

Oops, sorry to tip it for you

And yeah, *if* ( ) you bundle it with windows, brand the sh*t out of it. Logos ahoy!

"TheGameguru" wrote:

Bundling with Windows XP Home is a no brainer...there would be very litle testing to make that decision...just making some customizations to the browser etc..

We''re evaluating how feasible it is to bundle with a Linux Desktop...

In the end its 90% likely it will be Windows XP...but you dont make Microsoft sweat a bit and give you a better price if you simply show your hand immediatly.

Fair enough- I should have known that you were well aware of that. Again, I have nothing against Linux other than the fact you have to have greater than room temperature IQ to run it.

The only problems I have with Mozilla/Foxfire are sites that use activeX. Other than that it has worked for me on all other sites.

They do render pages slightly different though and I think it is because I.E. is currently not supporting the all latest and greatest stuff from W3C.

The one other thing I noticed is that for some reason things like size=25 render very differently between browsers.

Oh well go figure.

--edit--
Oh and I.E. lets you be rather sloppy with your programming. Many other browsers make you adhere to standards so any page written by sloppy coder is just not going to render right either.

Of course I am sure you know all this so not sure why I am rambling on and on and on and........

"maladen" wrote:

The only problems I have with Mozilla/Foxfire are sites that use activeX. Other than that it has worked for me on all other sites.

They do render pages slightly different though and I think it is because I.E. is currently not supporting the all latest and greatest stuff from W3C.

The one other thing I noticed is that for some reason things like size=25 render very differently between browsers.

Oh well go figure.

--edit--
Oh and I.E. lets you be rather sloppy with your programming. Many other browsers make you adhere to standards so any page written by sloppy coder is just not going to render right either.

Of course I am sure you know all this so not sure why I am rambling on and on and on and........

postcount ++?

Here are a couple of other distros aimed at the home desktop market that you might want to check out if you''re evaluating a Linux desktop solution.

Lycoris - just released Update 3 it seems like, never tried it however looks to be very clean and easy to use.
Ximian Desktop 2 - great gnome based distro, now Novell owned. Possibly targeted more toward the corporate desktop.
Linspire - formerly Lindows, you know, the company that likes to be sued. Still, agressively targets the home market.

You can probably get any of these free at LinuxISO for evaluation purposes, or you can buy them from their stores. Any updating or the Click''N''Run stuff for Lindows probably won''t work without paying.

In the end I agree Windows would probably be the safest choice, however it never hurts to have options. Also for most people, especially people new to computers, a good Linux distro is good enough for Web, Email and Word Processing. Good enough is usually all anyone cares about anyway

My only concern with providing a PC with a broadband service is that people will expect you to support the machine if it goes down, gets a virus, etc. even if you say over and over again that you do not offer tech support for the PC itself. That means clogging the phone support lines with useless calls or increasing your phone support staff double to handle the extra demand.

Of course, since I have no idea what you have planned, I''m sure it''s already been dealt with

"Pyroman[FO" wrote:

""]Here are a couple of other distros aimed at the home desktop market that you might want to check out if you''re evaluating a Linux desktop solution.

Lycoris - just released Update 3 it seems like, never tried it however looks to be very clean and easy to use.
Ximian Desktop 2 - great gnome based distro, now Novell owned. Possibly targeted more toward the corporate desktop.
Linspire - formerly Lindows, you know, the company that likes to be sued. Still, agressively targets the home market.

You can probably get any of these free at LinuxISO for evaluation purposes, or you can buy them from their stores. Any updating or the Click''N''Run stuff for Lindows probably won''t work without paying.

In the end I agree Windows would probably be the safest choice, however it never hurts to have options. Also for most people, especially people new to computers, a good Linux distro is good enough for Web, Email and Word Processing. Good enough is usually all anyone cares about anyway :)

Yes, but when they come home from Walmart with Nascar 2001 off the bargain shelf they get testy when it doesn''t recognize...

"Jadawin" wrote:
"Pyroman[FO" wrote:

""]Here are a couple of other distros aimed at the home desktop market that you might want to check out if you''re evaluating a Linux desktop solution.

Lycoris - just released Update 3 it seems like, never tried it however looks to be very clean and easy to use.
Ximian Desktop 2 - great gnome based distro, now Novell owned. Possibly targeted more toward the corporate desktop.
Linspire - formerly Lindows, you know, the company that likes to be sued. Still, agressively targets the home market.

You can probably get any of these free at LinuxISO for evaluation purposes, or you can buy them from their stores. Any updating or the Click''N''Run stuff for Lindows probably won''t work without paying.

In the end I agree Windows would probably be the safest choice, however it never hurts to have options. Also for most people, especially people new to computers, a good Linux distro is good enough for Web, Email and Word Processing. Good enough is usually all anyone cares about anyway :)

Yes, but when they come home from Walmart with Nascar 2001 off the bargain shelf they get testy when it doesn''t recognize...

Damn you! I were just at da walmart... and they no had yon Nascar 2001 in bargain bin... Ima gonna break dis here beer bottle and cut ya''ll for yer lies!

(Edit: to be more rednecky)

Yes, but when they come home from Walmart with Nascar 2001 off the bargain shelf they get testy when it doesn''t recognize...
a good Linux distro is good enough for Web, Email and Word Processing

Also, how much are they expecting a free PC to do anyway? They''ll probably just figure ""Oh, this game won''t run, I probably need to actually pay for a computer instead of trying ot use the free one."" What kind of video card is the free PC going to have? Buying a random game off a shelf might not run under Windows because of the video hardware, depends on the game. The point is, if it''s just advertised as an Internet machine, Linux can do that just fine. It will do what most people do with computers anyway, Internet and Email.

Then of course you missed the part where I said Windows was probably the best solution anyway It''s all about cost, which is just dependent on how much GameGuru''s people are willing to spend to give away a PC.

"Pyroman[FO" wrote:

""]

Yes, but when they come home from Walmart with Nascar 2001 off the bargain shelf they get testy when it doesn''t recognize...
a good Linux distro is good enough for Web, Email and Word Processing

Also, how much are they expecting a free PC to do anyway? They''ll probably just figure ""Oh, this game won''t run, I probably need to actually pay for a computer instead of trying ot use the free one."" What kind of video card is the free PC going to have? Buying a random game off a shelf might not run under Windows because of the video hardware, depends on the game. The point is, if it''s just advertised as an Internet machine, Linux can do that just fine. It will do what most people do with computers anyway, Internet and Email.

Then of course you missed the part where I said Windows was probably the best solution anyway It''s all about cost, which is just dependent on how much GameGuru''s people are willing to spend to give away a PC.

Incidentally, I agree with you, Pyro- I was just being sarcastical and stuff.

Bundling with Windows XP Home is a no brainer...there would be very litle testing to make that decision...just making some customizations to the browser etc..

We''re evaluating how feasible it is to bundle with a Linux Desktop...

In the end its 90% likely it will be Windows XP...but you dont make Microsoft sweat a bit and give you a better price if you simply show your hand immediatly.

Even if you won''t use JDS, do you think it''s ready for prime time? Is there a problem with StarOffice 7 that got you upset?

Robear

Incidentally, I agree with you, Pyro- I was just being sarcastical and stuff.

Ahh. It''s just a pet peeve of mine when I have preconditions for my argument that are then summarily ignored. Also, I may have been cranky. Consider the rant withdrawn!

"Pyroman[FO" wrote:

""]

Yes, but when they come home from Walmart with Nascar 2001 off the bargain shelf they get testy when it doesn''t recognize...
a good Linux distro is good enough for Web, Email and Word Processing

Also, how much are they expecting a free PC to do anyway? They''ll probably just figure ""Oh, this game won''t run, I probably need to actually pay for a computer instead of trying ot use the free one."" What kind of video card is the free PC going to have? Buying a random game off a shelf might not run under Windows because of the video hardware, depends on the game. The point is, if it''s just advertised as an Internet machine, Linux can do that just fine. It will do what most people do with computers anyway, Internet and Email.

Then of course you missed the part where I said Windows was probably the best solution anyway It''s all about cost, which is just dependent on how much GameGuru''s people are willing to spend to give away a PC.

I''d just like to pipe in by saying that Walmart already markets OC''s with linux, marketed as internet/general use systems, and they seem to be selling well.

Even the not-necessarily-newbie-friendly distros, like mandrake can be installed. Most commercial distros come with 30 days tech support, so you can rely on the distro''s tech support for the short term newbie hiccups, and offer to extend that as a program option to users.

Something like Xandros would be good because its windows like, comes with crossover office, and is rock solid. One or two, ""how do I install office on this system"" tech calls, and the user will pretty much know their way around. Xandros, Mandrake, Lycoris can handle that stuff.

Another reason to go open would be, from a cost standpoint, anti-virus, and firewalls. The people running these systems are responsible for much of the virus propagation out there.

Now, unless you rely on Xp''s ICF, and bundle some type AV with the service, you are going to be getting the ""my system is f***ed up"" calls. How much will that add to your setup cost?

Linux might get you around some of that. You can set up each box with a firewall, which is free, and give users the option of installing an Antivirus-Kaspersky, Vexiera, etc., for linux. 90% of viruses won''t execute, since they are designed for windows, and the few linux viruses out there aren''t really an issue unless the user is running as root.

As for gaming, etc..., well, wine x works for older games, but most of these systems have only the integrated graphics, which won''t be able to run anything recent anyway. Best to market a gaming option as well, if that''s the subscriber''s intent.

Xandros! That was the other distro I was thinking of but couldn''t find. Thanks!

Doesn''t Fedora Core 2 come out today?

"Gorack" wrote:

Doesn''t Fedora Core 2 come out today?

Yes, its out.