Comments on: Which OS would you want in a Netbook?

Acer is reportedly planning to release in August its Google Android-equipped Netbooks, which will also come bundled with Windows XP. Which operating system would you use?

[halimothman]

jolicloud

[carlfri]

Those using Ubuntu or another Linux distribution tell me how I can get my Epson Workforce 500 working with printing, scanning, faxing etc....

[carrige]

whatever configuration gives the best battery life.

[TechnoMan475392]

Why doesn't google make a special version of "wine" for android and package it with all computer versions to settle the 'droid rage.

[iLinux]

I would choose Android. However, any Ubuntu derivative will do just fine within a Netbook, or Desktop for that matter, I personally believe Ubuntu derivative "Mint Linux" is by far the most complete & friendliest Linux OS especially for anyone used to the Windows environment.

[esziszi]

Please change the image or its caption in the article. It says "screenshot", but it's the photo of a netbook, with its screen turned off.

[Kendokill]

Something not graphics intensive, maybe like the ps3 menu bar system, but with a little more customization and detail.

[wabwoba1]

the problem with windows is mainly drivers,,,,and if google can solve that then it is good if not ..then it is just another marketing gimmick

[Brian466]

Either OS X or Linux Mint. Both are great.

[Hamranhansenhansen]

I would rather have iPhone OS in my "netbook". The reason is that every single feature of iPhone OS was made by someone who understood that the user is in all cases MOBILE. All of the hardware, all of the software, everything. Even the 3rd party apps are all mobile-optimized.

Also in iPhone OS you already have the Unix core OS and HTML 5 browser from Chrome, and you already have the 64-bit native application platform that nobody else has. Other operating systems are years behind in this.

>> have fun replacing your macbook when you drop it.
> lot easier to replace a netbook than a macbook

MacBooks are made out of 1 piece of aluminum so you can drop them without having to replace them.

If you're thinking about dropping and replacing when you buy your computer, then buy an iPod. Not only are they more likely to survive a fall than a netbook, they are easier to carry and less likely to fall in the first place. Also at $229 they are easier to replace.

I see people struggling with netbooks all the time, carrying them around open, holding them by the edge, trying to find a place to rest them to interact with them in some way. It's no wonder you're thinking about dropping them when they're meant to be used while sitting down and you're carrying them all over.

> I would love OS X in a netbook without having to go the Hackintosh route. But, I don't want to pay
> premium prices for Apple's hardware. I have a Dell Mini 9 running Ubuntu and that really does
> most of the things I need a netbook to do

Does the Dell/Ubuntu do anything that you can't do with an iPod touch? The iPod is half the price of a Dell mini and has OS X pre-installed. You can type faster on the iPod. It plays 3D games. It requires almost no I-T. It fits in your pocket. There are thousands of mobile apps. I keep hearing people tell me that they did the whole Hackintosh thing so they could get "Web and email" for about $500. An iPod touch is $229. It's insane.

The problem with the "netbook" is that the keyboard is not made for touch typing. If you can't touch type on it, then you're better off with 2 thumbs and auto-correction. If the keys aren't big enough for touch typing, then you might as well make them much smaller and make hunt-and-peck faster and easier. The netbook is also built for a desk or lap, neither of which you have when you are moving around. To go to all that trouble and expense (twice the cost of an iPod, and still needs 100% of the I-T as any generic PC) and end up with the thing perched on a garbage can in a train station so you can trackpad around the little screen trying to click on a specific pixel in a desktop Web browser so you can manually tell Google Maps where you are? Crazy.

I have a MacBook Air and an iPhone with me everywhere. In spite of how small and light and capable the Air is, I don't get it out of my bag until there is a desk or chair around. In spite of the fact that it has a full-size Mac keyboard (the same exact one from every other Mac) and multitouch trackpad, it is not as fast as an iPhone when on-the-go. The only way the full-size Mac keyboard gets faster than iPhone is if I sit down and put the MacBook Air in my lap and fingers on the home row and get to work. If moving at all, the iPhone is much faster. When you have a desktop browser and email client in your pocket the idea of a netbook is bizarre. You are better with 2 full computers: a pocket one and a laptop one, instead of a half a computer in a netbook.

If you take a look at a MacBook Air, you'll notice that the only part that is not compromised in order to reduce size or weight is the keyboard. The trackpad and display lack glass but yet the keyboard is all there, even the backlight. There is no optical drive but there is still an Eject key for when you're sharing a drive from another machine. With all the work Apple did to make MacBook Air small, they couldn't figure out how to make the keyboard smaller without wrecking it. The 13-inch displays that Apple uses as the smallest display on the Mac is not arbitrarily-sized: that is the smallest screen that can fit into the same size housing as a Mac keyboard. The MacBook, MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro are all sized around the smallest touch-typing keyboard Apple could make.

> you play games on your netbook?

That is just sad. You're telling me that after you spend $400 you can't even play games? You can play games on a $229 iPod. Lots and lots of games.

The netbook is a joke. I look down upon everyone who has one. The generic PC was already hideously unproductive no matter what you spend on it. Shrinking it down as though in a clothes dryer did not improve it. Perching it on top of a cab did not improve it.

[The_Decider]

I wouldn't want Windows nor that Andriod spyware, I would put the same thing I have on my laptops, desktops, and servers: Linux.

If I get a netbook, I want Windows 7. Using the Release Candidate now on an XP media Center laptop. It has been perfect for my needs, particularly the ease of communicating between Media Center and my XBox 360.