Run Windows XP on the Asus Eee PC

The little seven-inch mini-laptop is learning some new tricks. The Asus Eee PC can now be loaded with Windows XP instead of the custom Linux build that comes pre-installed. This switch makes perfect sense, considering that the Asus Eee PC rocks the same Intel Celeron processor as the Samsung Q1 UMPC. Whether you consider the switch to Windows as an upgrade or a downgrade… well, that’s up for debate.

In order to get Windows XP running smoothly on the Asus Eee PC, the modder has swapped out the 512MB of RAM for a 1GB module. This change probably wasn’t necessary, but it’ll certainly help the Microsoft OS run a little more smoothly. The process takes about five minutes and worse comes to worst, you can just make use of the Linux recovery CD that comes packaged with the Asus Eee PC.

Seeing how the Asus Eee PC currently comes with a maximum of 4GB of internal memory (SSD), the amount of space taken up by the operating system is a bit of concern. As it stands, “some folks have their XP footprint down to 687 MB.”