“…the biggest differences between the Gateway/AOL and
Microsoft strategies are the operating systems that run on PCs and
other devices in the networked home. Microsoft is building on a
number of existing products, ranging from its recently introduced
Windows Millenium Edition OS, to its MSN service, to Internet
appliances based on its MSN Companion platform.”
“For its operating system for appliances, Gateway has turned
to Linux. Mobile Linux is an embedded variant of open-source
Linux, tweaked specially for Internet appliances running on
Transmeta Corp.’s Crusoe processors by Linux creator Linus
Torvalds.”
“Mobile Linux includes proprietary extensions that support
power management and file compression which Transmeta is not going
to return to the open-source community. Gateway plans to use
Mobile Linux inside its newly introduced Touch Pad, Connected Music
Player and forthcoming wireless web pad.”