Many people leave their computers on around the clock. This usually implies that all the attached hard disks are always spinning. Constantly spinning up a hard disk normally increases the chances of drive failure. When a disk is not powered it should last longer than if it was spinning.

Asus launched its new 8.9-inch Eee PC yesterday, offering more memory, a multi-touch trackpad and better webcam, but despite two operating systems, chains will only see the Windows version.

The Asus Eee PC 1008HA is a thin and light netbook that weighs just 2.4 pounds and measures just an inch thick. And it’s currently only available with Windows XP. But this weekend Asus did something interesting.

ASUS have released a cheap subnotebook. It is far from state-of-the-art tech-wise, with 512Mb RAM and a Celeron processor. It has a 4Gb hard drive and no optical drive. Its screen is 7” and runs at the odd resolution of 800x480 and the operating system looks like something Fisher Price might have designed. Why would you buy it? What on earth can you do with this?

The ASUS sneak attack. The most interesting story the media is downplaying is the ASUS announcement that it will have a ROM boot chip on all its motherboards, which will boot Linux instantly on start-up. When you flick the switch the machine is instantly on. (It's about time.) Of course, you will have to press another button for the machine to load Windows.

Asustek Computer (Asus) predicts the Eee PC it has started selling with Microsoft Windows XP Home edition on board will outsell the original Linux-based version by a ratio of 6 to 4 in the market by year-end, a heady prediction considering the Windows machine costs nearly twice as much as the cheapest Linux one.

Although most of the specs and other details have already leaked, ASUS has finally pushed out the official press release for the new Eee PC 901, 1000 and 1000H. The three machines will all be offered in Windows XP and Linux variants, with a choice of black or white casings.

A recent press release shows that Asus has gone into private talks with Microsoft on how to release a Windows 7-Compatible Eee. What's more, both Newegg and Asus have been plugging a new Eee Campaign called "It's Better With Windows"

ASUS is among the few tier-one hardware vendors that understands Linux. Of the dozens of ASUS products we have tested over the years, it is hard to remember a product from ASUS that did not work well with Linux.