ASUS mobo with built-in Firefox
A new ASUS mobo (motherboard, for non geeks) model P5E3 Delux/WiFi-AP uses a new concept called Hardware for Webware. This new mobo has an embedded Linux distro with Mozilla Firefox and Skype installed in its ROM. With the software already installed in the motherboard’s ROM unit, you can start browsing the Internet within 15 seconds from starting up the computer. There are a few pros and cons with this feature as stated by various sources.
Pros:
- Quick access to the Internet, within 15 seconds after booting
- Running on Linux OS, an open source, free, and secure software
- Uses Mozilla Firefox browser, the most secure browser
- Supports the popular Skype for cheaper calls worldwide
- No access to hard drive, that means, no spreading of viruses and spywares
- It saves your settings and bookmarks in memory
- It has a flash plugin, so it supports flash.
- You can connect to a network easily using a cable or Wi-Fi
Cons:
- For now, it is only supported on higher end motherboards, so it doesn’t come cheap.
- Doesn’t support Firefox plug-ins and add-ons.
- If you are on the motherboard environment, which ASUS calls ExpressGate, you cannot access your hard disk so you cannot run another application installed on the disk.
Their ExpressGate environment is a next step in today’s PC hardwares since most people nowadays are always online. And there are more and more applications that are developed for online use. Future versions will have more added versions of free softwares that are pre-installed into the ROM. The company is planning to add DVD/CD players, the Pidgin IM client (which is a free multi-account IM client), and a media player that can play the files on the machine’s hard drive.
[via webware.com]
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