Asus Hardware For Webware - Firefox And Skype Embedded In The ROM

I hate it when people use my computer. No one has ever really messed up my computer just from surfing the net on it, but I still don't like it. The easiest way to keep someone from changing your preferences or deleting your important files is to just set up a limited account for guests to use. But what if you wanted an added layer of security?

Asus has created what they're calling Hardware for Webware. Essentially they have embedded a very small Linux distro with FireFox and Skype installed in the ROM, which means it's always there. It only takes roughly 15 seconds to go from off to surfing the net.

The great thing about this is that the OS has absolutely no access to the hard drives in the system. This means that there's absolutely no need to worry about viruses and spyware. You also don't have to fret about someone poking around in your porn important files. Also, thanks to applications like Google Docs and Meebo, you can do a lot of day-to-day work inside of a web browser.

The biggest downfall of this (for now) is that it is only built into higher-end motherboards. Those of you thinking that you'd love to have super-cheap internet-only machine in your house can calm down. I'd love to see a cheap picoITX board outfitted with something like this, now that would be something worth buying.

Hardware for Webware: A motherboard with embedded Firefox [via crave]