"Back in 1996, Wal-Mart made headlines by marketing the first
'sub-$1,000' PC. Now, the megachain is again breaking new ground in
PC pricing, this time with a model it sells online for less than
$200.
"To hit that price point, Wal-Mart and its manufacturing
partner, Microtel, had to do more than scrimp on hardware. They
also had to finesse the most expensive single item in most PCs: the
license fee for Microsoft's Windows operating system.
"To do so, they turned to Linux, the free alternative OS
developed cooperatively by programmers around the world.
Specifically, they adopted Lindows, a Linux-based environment
that's supposed to be simple enough for most consumers to use and
even enjoy..."
