Acer, Inc. — the Taiwan-based electronics company and third-largest computer maker in the world — has decided to jump on the Linux bandwagon, and it's jumping bigtime.

The company, which produces desktop and laptop systems along with a variety of other consumer electronics, is entering the ultra-portable market with a Linux-based "netbook" computer, but that's just the beginning, according to company executives. Acer is developing it's own Linux distro — though whether it will be a derivative of an existing distribution was not mentioned — that will boot in fifteen seconds and provide customers with an extra two hours of battery life over Microsoft's Windows. Additionally, it's expected to save customers around $100 per system, a savings Acer's UK managing director says is "a major issue."

With benefits like that, the company has decided to extend its Linux offerings to its popular line of laptops, and will be "aggressively" pushing the systems. If Linux laptops take off for Acer — and if it's anything like the EeePC, they will — we'll likely be seeing Linux desktops and other devices from Acer in the near future.