Mac users have their Mac Mini, and now courtesy of a company called AOpen (www.aopen.com), PC users have their PC mini. Actually, the name of this new PC is the AOpen miniPC. And it comes in two flavors: Windows and Linux.

The miniPC starts at $499 for the Windows XP (Media Center) version and $399 for the Linspire version. The folks from AOpen gave me a demo last week, sitting the diminutive device in front of me and connecting it to a 19" monitor. It sure looked like it worked okay to me, though I haven't had a chance to play with a review unit yet.

I kept wondering to myself, "Why would you want one of these?" I was trying to think of applications for both the home and engineering lab. I couldn't really come up with a killer app at the spur of the moment. But I did like what I saw when the demo switched from the XP version to the Linspire version.

I have never actually used Linux in any of its variations, but this one looks intriguing. Linspire (www.linspire.com) has a look (GUI) that's similar to Windows, but supposedly this OS is not the target of viruses and the like—at least for the time being. I thought I might tout this version of the miniPC to a few of my friends who can't seem to keep their PCs free from viruses for more than a day or two at a time.

Here are some of the miniPC details: it's 6.5-inches square by 2-inches high; it's got a slot in the front for CD/DVD drive/burner, whatever; and connectors in the rear for two USB ports, one 1394, Ethernet port, modem jack and speaker out/mic. It's also got DVI and S-Video connectors.

Initially, The miniPC will be available in two versions: the MP915-C will be powered by an Intel Celeron M 360 processor clocked at 1.4GHz; and the MP915-P will be powered by an Intel Pentium M 740 processor running at 1.73 GHz. Both models will use Intel's 915 GM chipset and come with a 512MB DDR2 400 SODIMM memory module rated at 533MHz.