Both Google & Microsoft Might be Pressuring Asus to Drop Dual-OS Booting Devices

[dgstorm]

We have to admit to being surprised by this news. There are pretty solid rumors floating around the web today that both Google and Microsoft have been pressuring Asus to stop building dual-OS booting devices. In the PC world, creating a dual-boot device is easy and largely ignored. Perhaps it's a given that tinkering and altering go hand-in-hand with a PC, which is why software OEMs tend to give it a pass. Also, PCs need to have increased versatility for increased productivity. It might be a bit more understandable for these companies to want to control what comes installed on tablets, but it's still a bit shady if this rumor is true.

Asus was all set to launch their new Transformer Book Duet TD300, but according to insider sources, Asus has been forced to shelve the project citing pressure from Google and from Microsoft. The report also claims that two other dual-OS products from ASUS's have been nixed. The P1801 and P1802, which are all-in-one PCs, will have their sales suspended thanks to Microsoft's "new policy" of not supporting dual-boot systems.

We aren't sure what to make of this at the moment. On the one hand, we can see where it would be true. On the other, there have been rumors that Microsoft themselves are considering launching a dual-boot Android/Windows hybrid smartphone. If both of these things are true, then it smacks of massive hypocrisy from the folks at Redmond.

Source: Engadget

 

[liftedplane]

that's extremely frustration, an item like that was exactly what I've been looking to use in and around my store... not that it's terribly hard to do a dual boot... it's just nice getting it out of the box and having OEM support for it.

 

[RyanPm40]

We have to admit to being surprised by this news. There are pretty solid rumors floating around the web today that both Google and Microsoft have been pressuring Asus to stop building dual-OS booting devices. In the PC world, creating a dual-boot device is easy and largely ignored. Perhaps it's a given that tinkering and altering go hand-in-hand with a PC, which is why software OEMs tend to give it a pass. Also, PCs need to have increased versatility for increased productivity. It might be a bit more understandable for these companies to want to control what comes installed on tablets, but it's still a bit shady if this rumor is true.

Asus was all set to launch their new Transformer Book Duet TD300, but according to insider sources, Asus has been forced to shelve the project citing pressure from Google and from Microsoft. The report also claims that two other dual-OS products from ASUS's have been nixed. The P1801 and P1802, which are all-in-one PCs, will have their sales suspended thanks to Microsoft's "new policy" of not supporting dual-boot systems.

We aren't sure what to make of this at the moment. On the one hand, we can see where it would be true. On the other, there have been rumors that Microsoft themselves are considering launching a dual-boot Android/Windows hybrid smartphone. If both of these things are true, then it smacks of massive hypocrisy from the folks at Redmond.

Source: Engadget

...So does this mean no more bootcamp on Macs, which has been supported for quite awhile now without any qualms from MS?

 

[kodiak799]

I understand why Google would oppose it, but I'm surprised to see MS so adamant.

MS makes software (well, I suppose before they bought Nokia), so really the hardware shouldn't matter to them and they will continue to lose marketshare to tablets and phones until it those "trojan horses" truly do threaten their enterprise market. The real issue here might be that MS can't get it's $250 (or whatever it is) licensing fee as it would make dual-boot devices too expensive to sell.

People really don't want to carry multiple devices, and I think business users will begin demanding dual-boot features so they can just dock their phone or tablet to a workstation at the office. For personal and even other business uses, they'll want Android or IOS on their device as well.

As for Google and the enterprise space, I just can't really see them closing the gap on MS Office. Haven't used Google docs really, but I can't see that as ever being a real threat to Office.

 

[kodiak799]

...So does this mean no more bootcamp on Macs, which has been supported for quite awhile now without any qualms from MS?

Good point. I think it really comes down to the licensing fee - practically no demand, at this point, to pay an extra $250 for to dual-boot Windows on a tablet or phone.

Isn't MS officially supporting full-Office for Android and IOS? Maybe that's the strategy - cling to the enterprise market and then grab extra $$$ selling separate licenses/access to Office for mobile devices.

 

[kodiak799]

Also, developers could easily give us this dual-boot feature. The challenge might be in obtaining a license for a compatible version of WinMo.

 

[liftedplane]

Also, developers could easily give us this dual-boot feature. The challenge might be in obtaining a license for a compatible version of WinMo.

I wouldn't want winmo though that was the draw. Full windows full android, it depends on what I'm doing. I love the idea of one device. - sigh- is just M$ being greedy and I'm not sure why Google would be against it if they actually are. Maybe they're afraid of more fragmentation.

 

[kodiak799]

I wouldn't want winmo though that was the draw. Full windows full android, it depends on what I'm doing. I love the idea of one device. - sigh- is just M$ being greedy and I'm not sure why Google would be against it if they actually are. Maybe they're afraid of more fragmentation.

Yeah, meant full Windows...but with current specs most tablets/phones can't really handle it (2gigs is weak, you really want 4gigs for a good Windows experience)

Anyway, I think Google opposes it because Android is their trojan horse into the enterprise marketplace. Get people using Android, get them using Google Docs...and then backward integrate into pc/enterprise. That will never happen if Windows is allowed to co-exist on Android devices.