ASUS planning a desktop Eee PC equivalent

ASUS is developing a computer that should do for desktops what the recently launched Eee PC will do for notebooks, company marketing president Jonathan Tseng told the press today. The executive would not go into details other than to explain the system would not include a display of its own and would likely be low-priced. The notebook distinguished itself by running a customized version of Linux and storing information on a small flash storage drive, allowing it to use relatively low-cost hardware and software while running relatively well.

The system should launch in 2008 and may be available near the time the $299 Eee PC 2G notebooks, which is now expected to come in multiple colors beyond the white of today's models. A version of the Eee PC portable preloaded with Windows XP is also expected to ship in December, though whether this will translate to the desktop system is unknown.