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Asus' Express Gate, is it a Useless Gimmick or a Glimpse of the Future?
Posted 07/23/08 at 10:59:29 AM | by Chris Moody
Over at PCmag.com, they bring up an interesting point about Asus’ new ROM boot chip and "Express Gate"; how it will affect users psychologically. We are not talking about power users, but just regular end users and how they feel about Linux.
For power users, there just isn’t much draw on Express Gate. So it lets you boot into a basic OS with a web browser and Skype in five seconds. Not really a big deal since most power users keep their machines on 24/7, or maybe let them sleep/hibernate. They also may have a dual boot system to a full featured Linux OS as well. This leaves power users scratching their heads asking why. Had Asus decided to make use of this Linux on ROM to provide things like diagnostics, data recovery, BIOS configuration/updating, or hardware systems monitoring, they would have had us at “hello”.
End users on the other hand, are more likely to power their systems on and off. For these folks having the option to boot quickly to use a web browser for a few minutes before rushing off someplace makes sense. More importantly it gets them using Linux without being obvious about it. I am sure Asus likes this idea as it will warm users up to their Eee line using the Linux OS. This could spool up to be a big deal if other manufacturers pick up on the idea and start serving up their own Splashtop Linux ROM chips on their motherboards.
The effect becomes that there will be more users comfortable using Linux and that could eat into Microsoft’s market share. If this takes off, Microsoft has little choice but to make it’s OS capable of going instant on, or creating a super light and cheap version of Windows that can do the same thing (like Windows CE, but better).
Do you think this might take off? Can we expect Microsoft to follow suit and do their own instant on OS?
Comments Print Email The future?
Submitted by rb3m on Wed, 2008-07-23 13:28
Hmmm... my Commodore 64 booted from ROM and was ready to go almost as soon as you flipped the switch. The reason those kind of systems went away is because replacing and upgrading the OS is much easier when it's on a floppy or hard drive, if they can figure a way to combine both (ROM daughterboard?) maybe they'll be onto something. Specially, as others have mentioned, in laptops.
As it is right now it feels more like a gimmick, but it sure has potential.
Submitted by sdcat on Wed, 2008-07-23 12:15
yes I totally agree on that to have laptop equip with express gate. For Desktop, it would also be great for use as a gateway for communication and simple IM/skype chat with video and voice. What else do you need? If used in conjunction with ext. flash drive, perfect for anything. Do I need to install HD on the thing? I really wonder. ^^
Personally I would be happy to see if this become a standard for most if not all motherboard rom chip.
P.S. sorry power users, just need to put you people aside for a bit on this...^^;;
Submitted by unatommer on Wed, 2008-07-23 12:03
"Instant on" has ALWAYS been lusted over, but never possible with a windows or mac based os... Will this make Microsoft change their os? No, not until it's adopted by the larger pc manuf. like Dell or HP AND widely used. +1 for the laptop comment.
Submitted by SpazzAttack on Wed, 2008-07-23 11:04
I tried two Asus P5E3 Premium X48 motherboards. I got the same result on both of 'em: Express gate could not find the network interface devices 9 out of 10 ten times I powered up the system. Let Asus get it working reliably first, and then we'll see if it's useful. Heck, even the Vista x64 drivers for this motherboard are just plain buggy junk.
The AI Lifestyle was just not for me...
Submitted by ajuhawk on Wed, 2008-07-23 10:03
When manufacture's start putting this onto laptop motherboards, that's when this will be a really big deal! When I'm at the airport and have to wait 3 minutes for my laptop to boot up just so I can do some last minute weather checks or e-mailing, it's really annoying! I usually end up leaving my laptop in hibernate when I'm on travel just to avoid this, but that has it's own problems.
Anyway, I see no reason for this in desktop machines, but in a laptop it would be extremely handy and would force microsoft to do something to either speed their boot time or create an instant on ROM.
Verdict: Gimmick
Submitted by Talcum X on Wed, 2008-07-23 10:00
I'm thinking most readers of MPC wont find this of any use. As for mainstream users...maybe not either. It needs to be more than what it is to become usefull. Now, have an optoin to move an installed OS from disk to blank boot ROM and keep changeable user files on the HD...now your talkin'.
***********
Every morning is the dawn of a new error.
Of course it's the
Submitted by kleinkinstein on Wed, 2008-07-23 09:57
Of course it's the future. Near instant (~5 sec) from a cold machine to a menu of usefull apps....are you kidding me? Marry a ROM boot chip to a large capacity SSD and just tell me where to buy.
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