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Linspire has been working for months on a project that will have a profound impact on consumers and on the Linux market - a sub-$500 laptop from a major retailer. This week, we're proud to announce a new complete laptop available immediately for $498, exclusively from Walmart.com. There are no mail-order rebates, no refurbished equipment, no "only three available at this price," no gimmicks or asterisks whatsoever and you are not required to buy a printer or sign up for an ISP -- it's just a low price from an established retailer carrying a laptop pre-installed with Linux. This marks a milestone for desktop Linux as it moves into the portable market.

Many buyers are likely to be new to Linux, so we've worked with our partners to ensure a comprehensive user experience. In each box is a printed Quick Start Guide which walks users through the initial setup and some of the basics related to using their Linux computer. Upon first startup, a multimedia tutorial guides the user step-by-step through every aspect of their new computer in great detail. Greeting the user is the best Linux software available from KDE, OpenOffice.org, Mozilla and the many thousands of developers who make Linux possible.

Learn more about CNR Warehouse

Our one-click software installation service CNR (click and run) is included with every laptop, allowing users to instantly get the fantastic library of numerous desktop Linux titles on their computer in a snap. Entertainment programs, business software, productivity titles, and more are all just one click away from the CNR Warehouse. I'm confident that anyone using CNR will be impressed with the growing list of Linux titles, plus they will get addicted to one-click software downloads and updates. It's definitely how the world should work!

If you know someone who needs a low-cost laptop for home, school or business, I encourage you to look at the $498 laptop and see if it will suit your needs. Because it's Linux-based, you won't have to deal with the barrage of Microsoft Windows security issues, yet it will read and exchange your Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel and Word files with Microsoft Windows based computers. This is the holiday season, and we do expect these to be a hot gift idea - so order soon to ensure availability.

A special thanks to Wal-Mart and the many people at Linspire who worked on this project to make it possible!

-- Michael

PS: Here is a nice note I received last week from a new Linspire customer:

"I just installed, the first time, Linspire 4.5. and I must thank you from the bottom of my heart and soul. Your Operating System just saved my business. I own a publishing company as a self published author. Windows stopped being useful and kept crashing all the time. It wouldn't cooperate with my hardware and nothing I did ever worked. After installing Linspire, I realized that I had started something wonderful. I didn't even have to reinstall my motherboard drivers, it had my Ethernet, Video, Sound and USB working without me doing anything to it at all. I was able to recover access to my other drives that use FAT32 and access important files. I love you people for bringing this OS into existence. You forever have a supporter and customer in me. Thank you again." -- Stewart McDonald
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