I have heard this too and can easily imagine these being quickly 'upgraded' to Windows 7 over Vista when it is due (although Windows 7 is still a Beta product). Unless users run some bench tests with other operating system flavours, it is hard to say what runs best. Two decades ago I did well enough with WordStar on a 286 laptop, albet with no mouse. Increased competition with open source products is driving these falling prices (and profit margins) for all the netbook hardware and software and in the end, all of us consumers are winners. The change has been a long time coming.<br>
<br>Say, have some of you heard the new Apple rumour for a netbook market entry? Looks similar to plans for the OLPC mark 2 computer with dual touch screen functions related to the iPhone .. fascinating entry. Has anybody had some classroom experience with the iPod Touch units?<br>
<br>Regards Roland<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/3/24 Bill Kerr <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:billkerr@gmail.com">billkerr@gmail.com</a>></span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
hi rob,<br><br>I'm not surprised they are running proprietary software but am surprised they are running vista. To quote from a recent wired article:<br><br><div style="margin-left: 40px;">Nearly every company in the PC industry has had its game plan uprooted
by netbooks. Microsoft had intended to stop selling Windows XP this
summer, driving customers to its more lucrative Vista operating system.
But when Linux roared out of the gate on netbooks, Microsoft quickly
backpedaled, <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2008/apr08/04-03xpeos.mspx" target="_blank">extending XP</a>
for another two years—specifically for netbooks. Most experts guess
that Redmond can charge barely $15 for XP on a netbook, less than a
quarter of what it previously sold for. (Microsoft corporate vice
president Brad Brooks assures me the company is earning "good money" on
the devices and plans to make sure its next OS, Windows 7, can run on
netbooks—Vista performs poorly on them.) For its part, Intel is selling
millions of its low-power Atom chips to netbook manufacturers. "We see
this as our next billion-dollar market," says <a href="http://www.spoke.com/info/p4gnY93/AnilNanduri" target="_blank">Anil Nanduri</a>,
Intel's technical marketing manager—except that the company makes only
a fraction of the money on an Atom chip as on a more powerful Celeron
or Pentium in a full-size laptop.<br><a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/17-03/mf_netbooks?currentPage=all" target="_blank">http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/17-03/mf_netbooks?currentPage=all</a><br>
</div><div><div></div><div class="h5">
<br><div class="gmail_quote"><br><br><br>On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 9:53 PM, Costello, Rob R <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:Costello.Rob.R@edumail.vic.gov.au" target="_blank">Costello.Rob.R@edumail.vic.gov.au</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
HI Bill<br>
<br>
its been on the cards for ages and seems finally official<br>
<div><br>
<a href="http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/ict/netbooks/netbook-parent-brochure.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/ict/netbooks/netbook-parent-brochure.pdf</a><br>
<br>
</div>i've seen the models (or at least the same model and software image that one of the schools here had prepurchased) - Lenovo - i don't know the exact brand - 1.6 Ghz chip i think<br>
running vista and seemed suprisingly responsive<br>
<br>
afraid i'd choose them, and the software image, over the XO / OLPC sugar environment that might have indirectly influenced the design of the netbook market<br>
<br>
cheers<br>
<br>
rob<br>
<br>
________________________________<br>
<br>
From: <a href="mailto:yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank">yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.au</a> on behalf of Bill Kerr<br>
Sent: Mon 3/23/2009 12:04 AM<br>
To: Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List<br>
Subject: [Yr7-10it] netbooks being distributed to every year 5 and 6 studentin northern victoria primary schools<br>
<div><div></div><div><br>
<br>
netbooks being distributed to every year 5 and 6 student in northern victoria primary schools<br>
<br>
press release<br>
<a href="http://candybroadcountry.blogspot.com/2009/02/hi-tech-mini-netbooks-to-boost-learning.html" target="_blank">http://candybroadcountry.blogspot.com/2009/02/hi-tech-mini-netbooks-to-boost-learning.html</a><br>
<br>
brochure to parents (pdf)<br>
<a href="http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/ict/netbooks/netbook-parent-brochure.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/ict/netbooks/netbook-parent-brochure.pdf</a><br>
<br>
Anyone have more information about this? I'm preparing a talk about the potential of netbooks for my school staff and for the CEGSA conference in July (I'll post my notes somewhere in due course, still at the research stage)<br>
<br>
--<br>
Bill Kerr<br>
<a href="http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/</a><br>
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