Foresight Linux

Foresight Linux is another flav of Linux designed for the UMPC and cheap PC market and geared towards a simple and intuitive user experience.

It will come pre-installed on the KPC Shuttle. You can download it via the Internet (and here.)

It is amazing to me the trend of using Linux, a typically non-intuitive OS, to better the experience of the average PC user. Is Microsoft doing that bad of a job or are they missing the market by overloading PC's with junk and worthless software?

I am sure this is not the last "user friendly" linux distro we'll see.

Shuttle PC by KPC - Another Internet PC!

It seems that everyone is getting on the "Internet PC" bandwagon these days.

This is the Shuttle PC from KPC. It retails at $99 and is geared towards users wanting an Internet box. I remember when this happened a few years back. Remember AOL TV and MSN TV? Internet boxes that plugged into the phone jack and you "surfed" the web via your TV?

These are a bit better being as you can save pics and files to your machine (you couldn't on AOL TV or MSN TV.) The price is not bad, even if there is no monitor in the deal.

I enjoy the idea that someone can use a box like this for simple tasks (i.e., the Internet) but the OS, usually Linux based, can be hard to "fix" if needed. Not everyone can use Linux as a main OS and not everyone can repair it if needed. Just my opinion.

Here are the specs:

OPERATING SYSTEM
Foresight Linux

PROCESSOR
Intel® Celeron® (basic version)Intel® Pentium® dual-core (upgrade version)

MEMORY
512MB (basic version)1GB (upgrade version)Supports up to 2GB

CHIPSET
North Bridge: Intel 945GC South Bridge: ICH7

GRAPHICS
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950(1) VGA Output

AUDIO
5.1 Channel High Definition Audio

INTERNET
10MB/s,100MB/s,1GB/s

STORAGE
80GB Hard Drive

POWER
100W PSU

BACK PANEL
(1) PCI slot(1) PS/2 keyboard(1) PS/2 Mouse(1) Gigabit LAN port(1) Serial port(1) D-sub port(4) USB 2.0 ports(1) Front out connector(1) Rear Surround out connector(1) Center / Bass connector(1) Printer port (1) Wireless port perforation

DIMENSIONS
11(L)x7.5(W)x6.7(H) Inch

WARRANTY
1 Year Limited Hardware Warranty

Gizmodo review.