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> I don't think netbooks will be back. When you look at something like the Raspberry Pi 4, it's way more powerful than the old Eee 701 was and the Pi is a very

> I don't think netbooks will be back. When you look at something like the Raspberry Pi 4, it's way more powerful than the old Eee 701 was and the Pi is a very small form factor. If a manufacturer thinks there is a market for it, they could encapsulate something like that in a keyboard and screen and give it Linux as an open OS. So why won't this happen you ask? Roughly speaking, that is exactly how netbooks started and then they very quickly switched to Windows. I don't know if it was consumer pressure or pressure from MS that caused this, but I do think it was Microsoft that pressured producers to switch.

Marazan 4y ago
Combination of MS and Intel. MS offered a massive discount on windows XP for netbooks as they saw the Linus writing on the wall. Intel choked of supply for people who wanted to build more fully feature netbooks - thus the constrained specs on things like memory)
Beltalowda 4y ago
I used to work at a computer store at the time; mostly doing tech stuff but also sales sometimes when it was busy. We sold a lot of Netbooks, both running Windows and Linux. "This model runs Windows" was a real selling point for many customers. You have to realize that many people just don't give a flying hoot about their computers, they just want something to access a few websites and such, and Windows is what they were familiar with. We sold a lot more Windows EEE machines than Linux ones, in spite of being quite a bit more expensive. Was there also pressure from Microsoft? I don't know; I wouldn't be surprised. But there certainly was a real consumer demand as well.
- Nursie 4y ago
  The specific linux on the eeepcs was pretty bad too, IIRC. I couldn't use it. So you really had to be someone interested in messing around with them to get the best out of them.
awiesenhofer 4y ago
I wouldn't call it "pressure" - MS just started to give away Windows for free if the device was under certain specs[1]. At that point it became a nobrainer for OEMs to just use Windows if it costs them the same anyway. [1] up to 11" and 4gb RAM IIRC
pnutjam 4y ago
modern netbook: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-11-6-laptop-intel-celeron-n4020-4gb-memory-64gb-emmc-star-black/6498805.p?skuId=6498805 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-11-6-laptop-intel-celeron-...

Marazan 4y ago

Combination of MS and Intel. MS offered a massive discount on windows XP for netbooks as they saw the Linus writing on the wall. Intel choked of supply for people who wanted to build more fully feature netbooks - thus the constrained specs on things like memory)

Beltalowda 4y ago

I used to work at a computer store at the time; mostly doing tech stuff but also sales sometimes when it was busy. We sold a lot of Netbooks, both running Windows and Linux. "This model runs Windows" was a real selling point for many customers. You have to realize that many people just don't give a flying hoot about their computers, they just want something to access a few websites and such, and Windows is what they were familiar with. We sold a lot more Windows EEE machines than Linux ones, in spite of being quite a bit more expensive. Was there also pressure from Microsoft? I don't know; I wouldn't be surprised. But there certainly was a real consumer demand as well.

Nursie 4y ago
The specific linux on the eeepcs was pretty bad too, IIRC. I couldn't use it. So you really had to be someone interested in messing around with them to get the best out of them.

awiesenhofer 4y ago

I wouldn't call it "pressure" - MS just started to give away Windows for free if the device was under certain specs[1]. At that point it became a nobrainer for OEMs to just use Windows if it costs them the same anyway. [1] up to 11" and 4gb RAM IIRC

pnutjam 4y ago

modern netbook: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-11-6-laptop-intel-celeron-n4020-4gb-memory-64gb-emmc-star-black/6498805.p?skuId=6498805 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-11-6-laptop-intel-celeron-...