Having become the major supplier of pre-built PCs in general, Hewlett Packard has now managed to take the crown in European notebook sales. Until recently, Acer held the top spot for Europe, but a 53% increase in year-on-year first quarter sales has allowed HP to leapfrog Acer, selling 1.38 million units compared to Acer's 1.23 million. This means that HP is now the largest supplier of notebooks in Europe, Asia and the US - beating Lenovo in China and Dell in the United States (HP sold 1.74 million notebooks in the US compared to Dell's 1.55 million). This confirms HP's position as the largest supplier of computers, and should certainly give competing companies like Dell and Acer something to think about.

For a long time, Dell has enjoyed the "most pre-built PC sales" crown. Now, it seems like HP, with the right combo of advertising and good products, has called snatchies on that crown. While a lot of factors went into the specifics of this little title change, I'll shorten it. Quite simply, HP now has 19.1% of the PC market, and Dell has 15.2%. We'll see if this trend continues, or if Dell has some sort of ace-in-the-hole to combat this recent lapse in sales.

So HP decided to build another computer. What makes this computer so special though is what's under the hood. In a conscious effort to increase performance/watt while decreasing price and environmental impact, HP built a computer based entirely off of VIA chipsets. Featuring a VIA C7-D processor, and VIA UniChrome Pro II graphics, along with an unknown chipset, this computer promises to be one of the most energy efficient computers (that still packs some horsepower) in a while. Too bad it'll only be available in China.

Asus uses the Lamborghini brand, while Acer snapped up Ferrari. Now HP has teamed up with Maybach to offer their own brand such notebooks. Configuration is not certain but the new model is supplied with Intel Core 2 Duo processor, built in SSD-store 64Gb and video adapter (presumably GeForce Go 7ххх or 8ххх), Bluetooth mouse as well as some form of exclusive carrying bag and an additional battery. Prices should be around $4000 USD.

After high demand for custom computers with Linux installed, Hewlett-Packard is considering a similar approach to Dell with the open source operating system. The company may soon start selling factory built systems (not customised PCs like Dell) with Linux pre-installed, although it wasn't completely clear about the matter. A few of HP's notebooks are already certified to work with Red Hat and SUSE - it even used to ship Linux systems a few years back, but these were unsuccessful HP decided to discontinue them. HP's worldwide director of open source and Linux marketing said "We are in a massive deal right now for ... multi-thousands of units of a desktop opportunity for Linux. That's an indicator." However, so far there is no information about which distribution would be used, nor which systems Linux would be offered with. This increased consumer interest in Linux could soon see other big-name OEMs provide the free OS with their systems if HP and Dell are successful.

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq "MSFT") and HP (NYSE "HPQ," Nasdaq "HPQ") today announced a three-year agreement to deliver an expanded portfolio of solutions for enterprise customers around the world. HP is the first premier global partner to deliver comprehensive solutions for the People-Ready Business, Microsoft's vision for how people, armed with the right software, are the key to driving business success.

Every HP computer that is "Windows Vista ready" and shipped with a Windows Vista upgrade coupon will get a free copy of Windows Vista when it is released. However, they will also get a free DVD full of various drivers, as well as a small guide on upgrading to Windows Vista, to make the upgrade process as worry free as possible. HP has worked since 2001 with Microsoft to ensure an easy upgrade path.