Which Os Is Good/better/best For Netbooks?

[The Simpleton 2]

Don't get confused by the title; I'm not asking you to pick three operating system and rank them I just want to know your opinion as to which OS performs best on standard netbooks. I'm talking about the general config - 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, etc. I currently have a Samsung N128 and it's running Ubuntu 9.10 and Windows XP. From the former I get a battery backup of around 4 hours on average load and on XP I get a little lesser, but almost the same. But then my friend who bought the same netbook but just a month later (and model number N148) had Windows 7 pre-installed and he's getting an hour more! So I was wondering if Windows 7 is actually a better OS than the two I already have. I know it's not resource-hungry like Vista, and it's running just about fine on my 512MB RAM PC. So will it be better to remove XP and put in 7 on my netbook? Or is good ol' XP still considered the best for netbooks?

[k_nitin_r 8]

Hi!

@The Simpleton

If you have only 512MB RAM on your computer, you are better off working with Windows XP or Ubuntu 9/10, unless you are willing to consider a hardware upgrade by adding more memory. Even with Windows XP, it is worth considering an upgrade because 512MB is quite low if you browse through websites that feature Flash content and anything memory intensive.

The difference in battery time can be attributed to a bigger battery. If you have access to both computers, you can look up the specs printed onto the battery (usually on the side facing the inside of the computer) and you can figure out if it is really a better battery that is providing higher run time on a single charge. If it is, you can easily get a newer battery with a higher capacity for your netbook. In either case, why don't you try getting yourself an ARM-based netbook? They last so much longer and might even get you through the whole day without having to hook up to a power socket.

BTW, this post is a duplicate of:
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

[The Simpleton 2]

Hi!
@The Simpleton

If you have only 512MB RAM on your computer, you are better off working with Windows XP or Ubuntu 9/10, unless you are willing to consider a hardware upgrade by adding more memory. Even with Windows XP, it is worth considering an upgrade because 512MB is quite low if you browse through websites that feature Flash content and anything memory intensive.

The difference in battery time can be attributed to a bigger battery. If you have access to both computers, you can look up the specs printed onto the battery (usually on the side facing the inside of the computer) and you can figure out if it is really a better battery that is providing higher run time on a single charge. If it is, you can easily get a newer battery with a higher capacity for your netbook. In either case, why don't you try getting yourself an ARM-based netbook? They last so much longer and might even get you through the whole day without having to hook up to a power socket.

BTW, this post is a duplicate of:
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Sorry to confuse you - my PC has 512MB RAM and I mentioned it only to compare it with the netbook. My netbook has the usual 1GB RAM and that is why I wanted to know which OS would be better for it.

BTW, this post is a duplicate of:http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Yes this happened because of that flood control thingy - first it told me I wasn't allowed to post, and when I tried to post again after 10 minutes it registered both posts.

[truefusion 3]

Windows 7 will run well insofar as you don't bog it down with a lot of programs. I know of a certain laptop that has Windows 7 on it and has similar or better specifications than the one you mention here, but it got bogged down by many programs. I restarted it once and waited for it to load. After about maybe 5 minutes i concluded that it had finished loading (as nothing else appeared to be waiting to appear), until i tried to open up a browser and realized it was taking forever and another icon in the system tray popped up. I'm not exactly sure when your friend bought their laptop or how new it is, but give it time and soon that extra hour will only be wasted on the programs installed on the machine. It seems that it is inevitable for a Windows system to get bogged down by start-up programs.

[BuffaloHelp 24]

I feel like the whole netbook market is just to make people buy more stuff.Using over produced parts, slap some new processor, hard drive together, they are marketing a device of the tomorrow with yesterday's technology.I think iPads and other personal portable pads are the future. But with their price tags of $499 or more it is no wonder netbooks are still popular and wanted by many users. Devices like iPads last up to 6 hours, touch screen based with almost instant ON. Windows still takes time to boot like it was a miniature laptop with power hunger.And so with this in mind I say there's no such good, better or best netbooks out there. There are just netbooks.Don't get me wrong. I love the ultra portability and love the fact that I can do many more things with netbooks. I manage systems and networks remotely so I really like the idea that I can carry around small yet powerful device to manage my tasks which iPads can't even begin to wonder about. I just hate to be taken advantage because the manufactures still want to watch for their bottom end--get rid of older and scrap parts before producing the device of 22nd century. I would love to see a device featured in Star Trek The Next Generation TV series--small about 5 x 7 display with touch screen, holds gigs and terabytes of information and can be synchronized to the main computer at a touch of your finger. And is as thin as the current iPad--but with better operating system.

[The Simpleton 2]

I feel like the whole netbook market is just to make people buy more stuff.

 

Using over produced parts, slap some new processor, hard drive together, they are marketing a device of the tomorrow with yesterday's technology.

 

I think iPads and other personal portable pads are the future. But with their price tags of $499 or more it is no wonder netbooks are still popular and wanted by many users. Devices like iPads last up to 6 hours, touch screen based with almost instant ON. Windows still takes time to boot like it was a miniature laptop with power hunger.

 

And so with this in mind I say there's no such good, better or best netbooks out there. There are just netbooks.

 

Don't get me wrong. I love the ultra portability and love the fact that I can do many more things with netbooks. I manage systems and networks remotely so I really like the idea that I can carry around small yet powerful device to manage my tasks which iPads can't even begin to wonder about. I just hate to be taken advantage because the manufactures still want to watch for their bottom end--get rid of older and scrap parts before producing the device of 22nd century.

 

I would love to see a device featured in Star Trek The Next Generation TV series--small about 5 x 7 display with touch screen, holds gigs and terabytes of information and can be synchronized to the main computer at a touch of your finger. And is as thin as the current iPad--but with better operating system.

I don't know much about the story behind the parts used in netbooks, but all I can say is that it is their price and performance which draws people in. I'll take myself as an example. I bought my first netbook - the Samsung N128 at the very low price of Rs.13k (around $285. Now, wouldn't you call that a good price for a computer which gives around 4-5 hours of battery backup and can handle most of the everyday applications? I bought this with my own money, which is another reason I preferred a netbook instead of a notebook.

 

The iPad does seem interesting but knowing Apple, it won't let users to do anything fun without shelling out extra money. Also, outside the US, almost all of the Apple products cost double or even triple of their original price. So there's not much of an international market. Netbooks on the other hand, remain sensibly priced in almost all countries. Before the parts used in them show their true colours, the users will most probably dump them. For example, students don't need to use netbooks after they complete their education; they buy powerful notebooks instead. So very few people are actually thinking about using netbooks for a longer period of time, and that's fine, because at the low prices, no one expects them to be long-lasting anyway.

[bluedragon 0]

Hi, I haven't used much of the netbooks floating in the market, tried a lenovo's netbook once running XP and a similar configuration to yours and it was giving a backup of approximately 3.5 hrs. I think Ubuntu is the best OS as far as resources and battery part is considered. I've tried running Ubuntu and XP on my Laptop and out of the two Ubuntu gives better results in terms of battery and speed. But then, The New Ubuntu (10.04 LTS) , is not that good. I think there's something missing I am running it on my Desktop and don't want to put it in my Laptop. For some reason, It doesn't work good on RAM less than 1 GB (Tried it in one of my college's computer). Overall , I think Linux is a better option if you consider battery , but I personally think that most of the things are not there on Ubuntu. I still love my XP even if I get less battery.

[Baniboy 3]

Well, there are more options than you think.Android-Windows dual-boot, there's also the new MeeGo OS (runs on Intel Atom processors). Also consider lighter versions of Linux or ones designed for notebooks. And yes, Ubuntu is slowly starting to suck... I think I'm going to change distributions soon, or at least revert back to the earlier LTS.As for the battery usage, reduce the brightness of your screen. At first it looks like it's super-dark, but later on you won't even notice it. And if you have reading troubles, just CTRL + scroll the wheel. And disable start-up programs you don't need.

[Ash-Bash 0]

I would say Windows XP it has a lot less resources than Ubuntu though I do know you are a big fan of Ubuntu. On my very old laptop which had crap specs I tried both and found Windows XP was faster and I was able to do my work without crashes etc.

[web_designer 7]

well, i still a faithful user for windows xp even i have a licensed windows vista and heard a lot of features about windows 7. windows xp sp3 is working great to me and compatible with all my programs. i didn't used windows 7 yet so i can't make a comparison but lately i did a favor to a friend who have windows 7 installed on his netbook and tried to install some programs, but i couldn't do that on windows 7 because some of compatibility problems. therefor, i think you should keep your windows xp as long as it works fine for you.

[TomCol 2]

If you don't mind waiting, I would suggest seeing what ChromeOS will be like. As it's going to be specially designed for netbooks, it will likely be faster and easier to use on those systems. As I have only ever used desktops, I'm indifferent to what is out there but it's still interesting what is being made.

[iikwalsemsiskweyrd 0]

I've been reading good reviews about Ubuntu's Easy Peasy. It's an OS which is created and optimized for a netbooks' limited battery life, screen size, memory, etc. It's minimalist UI also saves you a lot of eye strain from a very tiny screen.