Eazel put the final touches on the Nautilus file manager and quietly launched version 1.0 on Tuesday morning. Eazel and Nautilus have been the subject of close examination from more than just the Linux press.
Computer hardware is ever-cheaper, as is bandwidth.
Selling services to these users involves providing useful 'net-mediated tools and providing a level of system management for consumers who aren't interested in the process of maintaining their computers. In this context, the software Eazel produces is secondary to the services it hopes to sell. This business model will probably not prove itself any time this year. It's a measure of how hard a sell it is in the current tech economy downturn that Eazel laid off 40 workers, primarily in marketing and sales, in the face of difficulties raising a second round of funding on the very same day Nautilus launched. The other half of the equation, though, is a test of the talent and experience the Eazel team brings to bear.