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PC World recently got their hands on an Aspire One, Acer’s entry in the current UMPCaloosa. I have heard mixed reviews on this device coming from pre-release reviews and news trickling out of Taiwan (where the device is already available). PC World however seemed quite impressed, especially with Acer’s proprietary implementation of Linpus, a Linux distro.

The hands-on review has the following to say about the software side of the device:

From boot up to shut down, the Aspire one was a pleasure to use. Boot up took just 12 seconds due to the Linpus Linux Lite OS it runs. That compares to 30 to 40 seconds on other mini-notebooks I’ve tested running Microsoft Windows XP. Aspire one can also come with Windows XP, but after trying out the one with Linpus Linux, I’m not sure I’d want XP.

What Acer did best with Aspire one was focus on the Internet.

The Aspire one is designed for Internet use and comes loaded with software. The home page that opens on boot up offers software options right away, including a browser, an all-in-one email box, unified messaging center, media software and Office-like software.

I admit the hardware seems run of the mill compared with the other netbook summer releases. The most interesting element of the Aspire One is Linpus and the fact the company clearly focused on software over hardware which I think is refreshing and may give them a leg up in a space where all the hardware is more or less the same. Having a custom email application built right into the default home page shows Acer understands one of the factors people want most from a UMPC: ease of use. The fact that Linpus boots so quickly and puts key software applications front and center makes an otherwise somewhat humdrum machine very appealing to me.

Zealot (468 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

By day a department manager and writer for a major network device vendor...by night Zealot stalks the mean magnetic streets, striking fear into the hearts of bandwidth abusers and theme park mascots. Zealot has been involved with mobile devices for more than a decade now, starting off with dumb phones, moving to PDAs and then to smartphones, notebooks and netbooks with the odd PMP thrown in. Most of his mobile time currently is spent on a Treo Pro, Zune HD, Thinkpad T61, Gigabyte M912M or a Hackintoshed Compaq Mini 704. He proudly groks the Geek community and considers himself a Neo Maxi Zune Dweebie (thanks Will Wheaton!).