Motherboard manufacturer Asustek Computer is ready to throw down the gauntlet when it comes to the instant-on PC. PC users have long desired instant-on technology and are becoming more and more frustrated with the boot times associated with today's operating systems. Instead of waiting for the operating system vendors to get their acts together, Asus is taking on the challenge in a unique and possibly game-changing way.

View image

Asus is now embedding a Linux environment that incorporates Firefox and Skype into its motherboards! The idea here is that in less than 10 seconds, a user can turn on the PC and be surfing the Web, checking e-mail or even making VOIP calls -- simple tasks that are currently all but impossible with today's operating systems. Asus calls the technology Splashtop.

While Splashtop is impressive for the obvious reasons, there are several interesting side effects that will be created by the technology. First off, Splashtop has the ability to legitimize Linux. Odds are that most users will become comfortable with an instant-on capability to do some of their common chores. Secondly, Splashtop could become the operating system of choice for many users, making Windows an optional component for many white-box PC sales!

How is that possible? Simply put, users can turn to Web 2.0 applications, AJAX and SAAS to replace their current suites of Windows-based applications. To put this in practical terms, think about a common business user who uses the typical mixture of applications, such as CRM, word processing, e-mail and spreadsheets. Here that user could easily switch to Google Docs, Gmail, Salesforce.com and any number of other SAAS applications to serve his or her needs! What's more, if a business is in the process of moving its legacy applications over to a hosted model or AJAX, then those applications can also be easily accessed via the Splashtop environment.

If leveraged correctly, it's going to be hard for Microsoft to overcome the appeal of instant-on and free for many users.