There are many benefits to using netbooks. For one they are easily portable and allow for surfing around the net, building written documents, sending email, and accessing information. You can do these things with your PDA and with your cell phone. But with the netbook computer you have the advantage of a full size web browser, a smaller screen, and a close to full size keyboard. You also have convenient access to your music, photos, and ebook files.
These are not usually the best choice for your only computer because of limited size and they don’t have a Cd drive. Most more recent netbook computers come with the Atom processor which is faster and has more power than previous editions, but it is still not ideal for resource involved applications and multitasking.
Netbook computers are best for finding the Internet, designing documents, and reading ebooks. If you are a student on the go, you can take notes in class, do Web research, and create drafts of your papers. You can also download ebooks on your netbook and you won’t have to tote around heavy books all semester. You can save some money, financially and help save the environment by cutting down on paper.
As the power of personal computer components continue to increase while the size is decreasing the future of portable computing is great. In the future everyone will be carrying some type of portable computing device. In the same way everyone has a cell phone with them at almost all times of the day.
Netbook operating systems are being developed and improved as well. Early netbooks were Linux based, which created a compact and fast operating system, but it was difficult for non techie people to use. The Windows XP version became more popular. Now most new netbook computers come with Windows 7 and there are rumors that there is a special netbook edition in the works.
There are other special netbook computer operating systems in the works as well. There is Moblin developed by Intel which is Fedora based and is said to have faster processing and booting times. There is also Jolicloud. Which is cloud computing which is perfect for an Web based machine like a netbook. With cloud computing the resources are located on the net and all that is required is a fast sleek interface to access this.
Another promising option for the future of netbooks is the Chrome OS designed by Google. It is not out yet, but it is based on the Chrome internet browser and I assume it will be cloud based as well. The Google OS could make portable Web computing fast, convenient, and easy.
Another innovation that is just beginning are the new touch screen displays. The days of most people walking around with a small featherweight portable computing device, that has a fast, convenient to use cloud based OS, and a touch screen, are not far down the road.