ASUS is expanding its Eee PC line to include not one but multiple extra models, including an all-in-one desktop, the company said today at a press event.

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.

A YEAR ago, ASUS told the press that it was "closely tied up with Microsoft.” This happened just months after ASUS had expressed its future commitment to the GNU/Linux platform and recently we learned that Microsoft probably offered kickbacks to ASUS. It is almost confirmed now. The effect on ASUS appears to be devastating as liaising with Microsoft did not really pay off.

We recently acquired an ASUS Eee PC (if you want to know more about it, a lot of reviews are available on internet). The first thing we did when we put our hands at the ASUS Eee PC was to test its security. The ASUS Eee PC comes with a customized version of Xandros operating system installed, and some other bundled software like Mozilla Firefox, Pidgin, Skype and OpenOffice.org.

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.

In response to criticism from Linux enthusiasts, Asus has made additional source code archives available for download with code for the asus_acpi module, BusyBox, and several other components. The code released by Asus brings the company into compliance with its obligations under the GPL and should satisfy most of the critics.

Putting the ASUS marketing campaign in perspective

The original Asus Eee PC was the spark that ignited a forest fire of sub-mini notebooks from second tier providers to high end players like HP and Dell. Asus did so well with the original Eee PC they decided to release other models with similar design goals but minor tweaks of the hardware specs.

Not content with mounting a serious challenge to Asus' elfin Eee PC, US manufacturer Everex this week said it will follow up its 7in CloudBook sub-notebook with larger models later in the year.