Posted on May 29th, 2009 by Barry Collins

Are netbooks really “better with Windows”?

Asus – the company that started the netbook phenomenon with the Linux-based Eee PC 701 – has apparently decided that the open-source OS isn’t so spiffing after all.

The company has teamed up with Microsoft to create the rather prosaic It’s Better With Windows website.

“Windows helps you quickly and easily get online and connect to your devices and services – without dealing with an unfamiliar environment or major compatibility issues,” the site proclaims. It then shows a series of videos, with Eee PC-wielding people going about their lives in blissful harmony.

For the vast majority of netbook tasks there is, of course, nothing better about Windows at all. Web browsing, email and basic word processing are just as easy with Asus’s Linux-based Eee PCs as they are with the Windows XP models.

The issues crop up when you start using netbooks more like full-blown laptops. One of the Microsoft/Asus videos show people uploading photos from their smartphone on to the Eee PC, and then editing them on the spot.

As Jack Schofield noted in yesterday’s Guardian this isn’t “a failure of Linux, it is the failure of the netbook idea”.

“You were supposed not to need a big hard drive and a powerful processor running Windows because all your applications would be on the net, and you’d access them via a browser,” Schofield writes. “But it seems most people preferred the system they already knew.”

Jack’s right. The ever-increasing spec (and price) of netbook hardware means there’s little discernible difference between a “netbook” and a low-budget laptop. The original concept of a £150 machine that does little more than web browsing has all but disappeared.

Windows hasn’t made netbooks “better”. It’s just made them laptops.

Tags: Asus, Eee PC, netbooks, Windows

Posted in: Newsdesk

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12 Responses to “ Are netbooks really “better with Windows”? ”

Ryan Thomas Says:
May 29th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
And with the price increase goes the last chance of my buying one. £150 yes, £350 no
SteveWiilliams Says:
May 29th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Maybe not with Windows XP installed, but once 7 finds itself onto netbooks, then expect the Linux remix to officially be blown off the ultraportable market. That’s what I predict, anyway.
ip Says:
May 29th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
I can see the appeal of XP on a netbook – people will feel comfortable waiting forever it to load, crash and watching it grind to a halt with the AV product that you bought with it. Just like their other computers…
David Says:
May 29th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
What exactly is the purpose of that website? It seems entirely poinless, quite apart from being extremely naff and patronising.
Ben Says:
May 29th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
“Windows helps you quickly and easily get online and connect to your devices and services”, I will say now I use Windows, be it XP, Vista, or Windows 7, but I have an old untra portable then neither XP or Windows 7 had the wireless drivers as standard. XP didn’t have any form of network drivers when i did a fresh install and i had to go hunting for a disk to get either to work, and windows 7 I had the faf of hard wiring it to my router for it to find them. Ubuntu on the other hand, even the netbook remix, just worked, I had to do nothing more than enter the network key.

Also with windows the first thing after getting connected to the internet I need to do is download firefox, a step removed from Ubuntu (although that is just preference).
I still use windows, but in my experience on a small laptop Ununtu netboot remix is actually easier to set up and get started.
Richard Says:
May 30th, 2009 at 6:55 am
ip – boy I must be lucky, my Samsung Netbook runs great with XP on it. Its never crashed once in the 3 months I’ve had it and it comes up from standy in seconds, and even a full reboot is pretty quick (I haven’t timed it because i’ve got better things to do And would you believe it, how lucky can a guy be, I have a couple of Desktops running XP and Vista and they run great as well. Oh and I also have a couple of old laptops with XP, no problems there either

Ben – Windows is the most supported OS with respect to drivers on planet earth! You can criticise it on lots of fronts but a lack of drivers, I don’t think so. And in any case, even if XP had found all the drivers it would still be good practice to see if there are newer less generic drivers available, particularly for the chipset and the video.
M Baldwin Says:
May 30th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Here is another way of looking at netbooks.Either you pay £1000+ for an ultraportable laptop with a 13.2″ screen albeit a very well built one with 5 or 6 hours battery use per day or a netbook like the samsung NC10 for £300 which will do almost the same with a 10.2″ screen.They are in effect becoming poor mans versions of Ultra portable Laptops.Once the netbook starts getting 12″ + Screens then appart from build quality,why would you buy a £1000 Ulter portable ?
Alan Says:
June 1st, 2009 at 4:41 pm
A netbook is a “Net”book and not a real full option laptop. I bought a Netbook to work on the Net not with applications on my hard disk but all interesting Web 2.0 applications for me. So, if I just forget or loose my netbook I can still get docs,spreadsheets, mail, etc from whereever I go on the Net. Was that not the initial idea for Netbooks? To use it a simple machine to connect to some sort of “server” related software? Just one complain with the first Netbooks: mobility. My Acer One 150 with a 2200 mha battery gave me only average 2 hours mobility. Far too low. With an extra investment of 80 pounds I bought an external battery U20 of 13200 Mha that works perfectly for several hours and the problem is solved. Linux suits me well. Fast loading accessing my browser for Web 2.0 applications such as Google docs, etc. Again that is the only reason why Netbooks exist.
milliganp Says:
June 3rd, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Richard says “Windows is the most supported OS with respect to drivers on planet earth! ” This is simply not true. I’ve downgraded several portables for friends and family from Vista to XP. Searching for drivers is a nightmare. It takes an average of 2-3 hours to get XP onto a modern notebook.

By comparison Ubuntu 9.04 loads and works first time with ALL the drivers integral to the OS distribution disk.

Also people need to note that Windows 7 on netbooks is going to offer limited functionality so that Microsoft can sell it cheap enough to compete with Linux / Android / etc.

I suspect in a couple of years time there will be an anti-trust investigation to see how much Microsoft bunged Asus to drop Android.
milliganp Says:
June 3rd, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Just watched the drivel video on the letsthinkuparediculousname.com website and it show using that well know, standards based WP package Works!
6tricky9 Says:
June 4th, 2009 at 7:49 am
@milliganp

” I suspect in a couple of years time there will be an anti-trust investigation to see how much Microsoft bunged Asus to drop Android.”

Asus *hasn’t* dropped Android; in fact, see for yourself here http://bit.ly/K4Gal

In my opinion, Android will prove to be the killer OS on both the smartphone and netbook. Microsoft and Apple must be feeling very uncomfortable.
Bluetooth Says:
September 30th, 2009 at 5:58 am
I think yes and no both. In some cases it is very good then windows. But sometimes not. I think it depends on the user and the use of it. For me it’s not.