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Earlier this week, Acer pulled a 180 and announced plans to ship an Android-based netbook after previously saying the open-source OS wasn't ready for netbooks. For the company's next trick, Acer now plans to dual-boot Android with Windows XP.
According to Acer chairman JT Wang, the dual-boot strategy carries less risk than shipping a netbook with Android alone, as consumer response has yet to be determined for the latter. But the company isn't ruling out a standalone Android netbook either. Acer plans to target telecom providers to sell the new netbook, and if there's enough demand, an Android-only model could be in the works.
Not everyone is happy about the decision, however, particularly open-source enthusiasts. It also remains to be seen what kind of consumer reaction there will be, considering the major selling point of an open-source platform is the reduced cost, but that won't be the case with XP tagging along for the ride.
What are your thoughts on a dual-booting netbook?
Links:
[1] http://www.maximumpc.com/user/paul_lilly
[2] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/acer_pulls_aboutface_gets_ready_ship_android_netbooks
[3] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/acer_android_isnt_ready_run_netbooks
[4] http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20090604PD215.html
[5] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/acer_confirms_several_new_android_devices
[6] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/acer
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