Asus laptops to offer 'instant-on' Linux

The Splashtop distro will be bundled on the Asus M70T, M50V, M51Vr and high-end F8Va/Vr notebooks this summer and on the manufacturer's entire notebook range "in the future".

The news comes hot on the heels of an announcement from Asus earlier this month that it plans to include Splashtop, which the Taiwanese manufacturer calls Express Gate, on all of its motherboards.

Splashtop boots from a Flash chip on the motherboard in a matter of seconds and is designed to run a small suite of applications including Firefox, Skype and instant messaging.

Part of Splashtop's appeal is that it complements rather than replaces Windows, offering users the option to run a choice of operating systems.

Low power consumption and Wi-Fi support also make it an attractive option for notebook manufacturers.

"The integration of Splashtop into notebooks represents a big step forward in portable computing, where instant 'on' and 'off' is essential," said DeviceVM founder and chief executive Mark Lee.

Asus stressed speed and security as key features for users, as well as the ability to turn notebooks on and off in the same way as other electronic appliances.

"Asus is always committed to bring customers the most innovative solutions," said Henry Yeh, general manager of Asus' notebook business unit.