Mobile 3G Broadband

3G and Netbook PCs - Windows vs. Linux

One of the greatest issues when looking at the best netbook for your needs is the installed operating system, which while we take it for granted that a laptop or desktop PC will come with Microsoft Windows XP or Microsoft Windows Vista, this is not true of many netbook PCs.

The original Netbook systems were not capable of running Microsoft windows as they had too little memory and/or disk storage and often, too slow a processor.  This was usually to save cost, space and power consumption in a small form-factor system.  These systems usually ran a Linux varient such as Xandros, which is a "Windowing operating system" is is not what we would usually refer to as "Windows" - meaning Microsoft Windows.

Why does this matter?

This not only matters - but is really important to understand as a Linux Netbook will not usually run any of the applications users are familiar with, such as Outlook or Outlook express, Word, Excel or Internet Explorer.  Instead, they would have the Linux equivalent packages for email and probably "OpenOffice", a free Linux / PC package providing a Word Processor, spreadsheet application etc, which while very capable - are not the same as Microsoft Word and Excel.

In our humble opinion, most users will expect a netbook to be like a small version of a laptop with the same look and feel and applications they are familiar with.  A netbook needs to be easy to use as it will be a compact system with the slightly fiddly smaller keyboard that comes with all netbook PCs - and an unfamiliar operating system and different applications will only make the netbook less easy to use, especially when working "on the move".