Howard van Rooijen‘s reply to my post about installing the “Energy Blue” theme on a computer running Windows XP Professional got me looking at James Clarke’s blog, where I found a post about the OQO Model 01 ultra personal computer.

I haven’t seen a real one yet but this looks like a cool device – no cut down operating system – just full Windows XP Professional (not CE) on a 1GHz pocket-sized PC with 256Mb RAM, a 20Gb hard disk and a slide-out keyboard. It can also connect to peripheral devices including video (1280×1024 pixels), audio, Ethernet, FireWire and USB (only 1.1 at this time) using a docking cable. For more details, see the OQO website.

Back in February I was at a product demonstration for the Antelope Technologies modular computer (similar to the OQO, but the computer “core” is a hard-disk-sized unit which plugs in to a variety of shells for ruggedised, portable computing). More details of the modular computer are available at the Antelope Technologies website but the OQO looks more like a business tool, whereas I can see the modular computer taking off for industrial/commercial use.

The only problem for me right now is the $1999 price tag (plus options)…