Although the colourful 2G Surf Eee PCs weren't expected until January, online retailer NewEgg has already started selling them. The new models have a price tag of $299.99 and come in three colors: lush green, sky blue and blush pink, as shown below. The blue and pink versions are in stock at the moment available here and here respectively, but the green one, which was on this page, now seems to have been withdrawn.

Despite the limited hard drive space and relatively low system specs, a user over at the MoDaCo forums has managed to get Windows Vista working on one of ASUS' 4GB Eee PCs. All you need is an Eee PC, a Windows Vista disk, an SD card (at least 2GB, preferably more) and a 1GB USB flash drive. The process, which can be seen here, basically involves using vLite to create a streamlined Vista installation without features you don't need, copying that to the USB drive and installing the OS onto the Eee PC from there. After that you need to move the Side-by-Side (WinSXS) directory to the SD card in order to free up some disk space, and from there you should have a working Windows Vista installation. So any Eee PC owners desperate to run Microsoft's latest operating system can now do so, albeit a bit sluggishly.

All ASUS Eee PC owners can now take advantage of the new eeeXubuntu custom version of the Xubuntu 7.10 Live CD written specially for Eee PC. This distribution comes with fully-integrated ASUS Eeee PC hardware support, including native wireless drivers, functioning Ethernet support, tweaks for low-resolution desktop environments, and other miscellaneous fixes. You can download the eeeXubuntu 7.10r2 distribution from here.

ASUS has released a press release clarifying its position on the "Warranty void if removed" sticker on the bottom of the ASUS Eee PC that covers the RAM slot:

ASUS wishes to assure its customers that merely breaking or removing this kind of seal will not void the ASUS Limited Warranty.

This is great news for those looking to upgrade RAM or are checking to see if their Eee PC came with a Mini-PCIe connector. ASUS also plans on removing the sticker from all future Eee PCs.

The ASUS Eee PC 4G is about to be joined by another, more expensive model. To the accompaniment of the previous 7" 800x480 display and a 900MHz ULV Celeron processor will come an 8GB SSD and 1GB of DDR2 memory changing the name to ASUS Eee PC 8G. The new 8G model comes at $499 with expected availability in mid to late December. Additionally ASUS will give users to choose between Pearl White or Galaxy Black colors with the 8G. In other Eee PC news, Mobile O1 has posted pictures of the upcoming green model. Unlike the Pearl White and Galaxy Black models, the entire notebook casing is not molded in the same color - instead, only the LCD lid is molded in green while the rest of the body (including the keyboard) is molded in white. The new green option will be joined by a sky blue and pink options in 2008.

ASUSTeK has attempted to clarify recent accusations that it has violated the GPL (general public license) by failing to provide source code for the modifications it made to the Linux-based operating system (OS) shipping on its Eee PCs. ASUS stated that it has always respected the spirit of the GPL and the failure to make the source code available was due to an omission by one of the company's software technicians. The company is working on publishing all the related source code onto Linux forums and will provide downloads soon. ASUS had provided a download on its web site which it labeled as the source code of the Eee PC's Linux OS, however, customers with experience in the open source community recently determined that the file did not in fact contain the entire source code as required by the GPL license leading to accusations that the company was in violation of the spirit of the open source community as well as copyright law.

ASUSTeK Computer has added Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) as its second LCD panel supplier for its Eee PC, according to today's Chinese-language Apple Daily, which quoted research firm Macquarie. Analyst Daniel Chang noted that in order to lower its risks, ASUSTeK now is also sourcing 7-inch LCD panels from CPT in addition to AU Optronics (AUO).

Members of the Linux community have complained that the hot new sub-notebook from ASUS, the eeePC, may have violated the spirit of the Linux General Public License (GPL). Some Linux advocates claim the EeePC has not included required source code with the installed Xandros Linux distribution and does not easily enable users to install another distribution. However, there are indications that EeePC fans probably don't care. The ASUS EeePC has been hailed widely as a breakthrough product that could widely integrate Linux in the consumer computing marketspace. However, some Linux purists are upset that the EeePC uses Xandros, a Debian-based distribution which charges license fees and has a similar patent protection agreement with Microsoft to the one signed 12 months ago by Novell. The full story plus all the complaints can be found here.

Influenced by ASUS and Eee PC, Acer has begun to change its attitude toward the low-price PC market and the company recently formed a team to begin working on projects for the sector, according to Scott Lin, president of Acer Taiwan. However, Lin highlighted that the company has not yet budgeted any R&D funds for the low-end PC project and Acer will still focus on its typical notebook product lineup in 2008. To launch a low-cost PC or not is a matter of economic scale, indicated Lin, adding Acer expects global notebook shipments to reach 120 million units in 2008 with ASUSTeK Computer's Eee PC only accounting for 2-3% of the overall market. The actual market for low-cost PCs is still uncertain, Lin pointed out, and this is the major reason that the company is still considering whether to launch products. Lin also stated that the technological barriers towards developing a low-cost PC are not high and so Acer should be able to launch suitable products once the company completes its feasibility evaluations.

The ASUS Eee PC is once again in the limelight. This time, it has been billed as America's most wanted Christmas gift among notebooks products. Several large American shopping websites have started investigating what the average American would want as a Christmas gift in lieu of the fast approaching Christmas buying season; and the result from the American Amazon shopping website and CNET based on 14th of November unanimously places the ASUS Eee PC at the top spot on the wish list. Besides obtaining favorable consumer support in the American retail market, the Eee PC has also gained a foothold into the US education market. As California's educational system is highly advanced, California's 4th largest school district - the Fresno Unified School District, has taken the lead and have purchased 1,300 Eee PCs from ASUS to use as training aids for both students and teachers. By the end of this year, the projected sales goal for the US is 350 thousand units; and next year that figure is projected at 3 to 5 million.

ASUSTeK Computer has pushed back the launch of its Eee PCs in some Asian markets because of a serious shortage of the popular low-cost notebooks, according to Benson Lin, president of the company's Asia Pacific and Taiwan business unit. Lin said ASUSTeK originally planned to introduce Eee PCs in 15 more Asian markets in November, but the shortage has prompted the company to postpone the launch dates towards the end of the year for 10 of the countries. Eee PCs are currently available in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand and Australia, and the low-cost systems are expected to hit the Japanese market in the first quarter of 2008, according to Lin. He said the company aims to ship 20,000 Eee PCs to Taiwan this month, with the new system expected to account for half of the company's entire notebook shipments to Taiwan for the fourth quarter.

ASUSTeK Computer is developing a desktop version of Eee PC which it hopes to launch in 2008, according to Jonathan Tseng, president of marketing at ASUSTeK. Tseng noted that the PC will not include a display, but further specifications and pricing are still under evaluation. Unfortunately, at present that's all the information available for this bright future project.

ASUS' miniature notebook, the Eee PC, has now been officially launched and is available on Newegg.com - a day before the originally expected release date. The 4G model on Newegg has dimensions of 8.9" x 6.5" x 1.4" and weighs just two pounds, featuring an Intel Celeron M ULV 900MHz processor, a 4GB solid state hard drive, 512MB DDR2 RAM, 802.11g wireless networking, three USB ports and a 7" 800x480 screen. The OS shipped with the Eee PC is a modified version of Xandros Linux, optimised by ASUS, with a battery that is expected to last about 3.5 hours between charges. Although it was rumoured the Eee PC could go on sale for as little as $199, Newegg has the notebook listed at $399, available here, plus $10.03 for shipping.

Jonathan Tsang, president for sales and marketing at ASUSTeK Computer, has revealed that the company will announce the price tag for its Eee PC on October 16th. He also noted that prices for the product in the retail market will not be lower than US$200 with the price tag of US$199 only available for contract purchases. ASUSTeK, unveiled in June its ultra low-cost notebook, the Eee PC, at Computex Taipei 2007. The company highlighted that the Eee PC will carry a suggested retail price of US$199 at that time. Eee PC will officially hit the Taiwan market on October 16th with the initial batch of shipments no larger than 10,000 units, said ASUSTeK. The company will begin offering the product through Best Buy and Newegg in the US by the end of this month, while availability in the China market may arrive by the end of the year.