Climbing Eiger

Well, we all know that Microsoft is always eager, but the folks behind the latest announcement from Redmond must have had something else in mind, when they gave their "XP light" platform the codename Eiger. First, it's pronounced "eye-ger", not "ea-ger" and Eiger (in its respective context) is one of the hardest challenges that you can face. Ever. The North face of Switzerland's Eiger mountain gives you chills just by looking at it. Climbing the thing is still something else. Hopefully, the installation or operation of XP Eiger is not as difficult and making a mistake is not followed by instant death.

The Eiger concept can certainly be considered a defensive move. Trying to keep a more modern Windows XP alive on machines that got stuck on Windows 9x or that have been migrated to Linux, which requires a lot less resources, makes sense for Microsoft. Hey, I converted a few old boxes to Suse and they now operate as file server or firewall. But, how many firewalls does one need in a home? Exactly.

If all your Pentium II machines are already repurposed, you may want to see the real Eiger from this Irish or the German expedition.