I'm Waiting To Buy My First Netbook
I'm a geeky engineer that investigates carefully before buying. I need a secondary pc that provides portability. Small, so it can be easily carried on trips; long battery life so I can work for long periods without finding a place to plug-in; powerful enough to do email, web surfing, word processing, spreadsheets, and occasionally watch streaming video. The newer netbooks are perfect for my needs, but I don't want to end up with an operating system that will soon be obsolete, and I want to stay with Microsoft. So I am waiting until close to the end of the year to buy.
Microsoft announced about a year ago, that they would stop supporting XP. Then, because Vista would not work well on a netbook, they relented and kept XP around. I expect once W-7 is rolled out, MS will once again want to phase out XP. That means, netbook owners will be pushed into spending money on W-7, whether they like it or not. I am not in a hurry, so I can wait for W-7 when it comes pre-installed. It may drive up the cost of netbooks, but the price increase will be less than if I have to buy the W-7 on my own.
I also note that while netbook manufacturers are beginning to implement the Atom N280 CPU, they are are not moving to the GN40 chipset. From what I have read, XP cannot make optimum use of the GN40. It appears W-7 will open up the opportunity for improved performance through improved hardware design. As it currently stands, XP is the limiting factor and building a more powerful netbook only adds cost. So, if I buy now, I end up with a netbook that won't be able to take full advantage of W-7.
I am going to wait until late in the year, when W-7 comes standard with a netbook. By then, netbook manufacturers will be ready to implement chipsets that can take advantage of W-7. So, to answer the question, I will pay more for a netbook that has W-7, but I will not pay to upgrade to W-7.
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