Asus Kills Dual-boot Notebook to Please Microsoft, Google

Dual-boot or multiboot systems are nothing new, but it looks like neither Microsoft nor Google are too jazzed about the idea of their operating systems living together on the same machine. In fact, they're unhappy enough that it put the kibosh on a newly-announced dual-boot system from Asus. Announced at CES in January, the Transformer Book Duet ran both Microsoft Windows and Google's Android OS. It was supposed to be available for purchase this month. Instead, the company has canned the idea for the foreseeable future. A report in the Wall Street Journal says the device was probably canceled due to Microsoft and Google's feelings on the issue. The WSJ says Asus faced pressure from Google and Microsoft and that the device has been indefinitely postponed. In an industry where products are announced, shipped, relegated to the bargain bin and then redesigned and re-announced all in the space of a year, an 'indefinite postponing' is as bad as it gets. Especially if that product had already been announced and was well on its way to launch.