Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 2nd Jan 2009 22:06 UTC
Netbooks run either Windows or Linux, and both are readily available in shops all over the world. The Linux variants chosen by several netbook manufacturers are usually derived from desktop distributions, and obviously, Windows is a desktop operating system as well. However, netbooks have small displays, and both Windows and GNOME/KDE and some of their applications aren't always suited well for such an environment. Enter Android, Google's Linux-based phone operating system. It is suggested that Android-based netbooks will appear on the market in 2010, maybe even sooner.
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Member since:
2005-11-18
Because, frankly, Linux on netbooks currently sucks. Every cheap Asian brand uses it's own semi-proprietary Linux distribution that is a fork of Linpus, Xandros, or something else. There is no compatibility, no consistency, whatsoever.
That's fine for our tiny contingent of the population who can install/roll our own stuff and put Ubuntu or what the heck we want on it, but that's not going to work for the majority of users out there. So, if they can choose between Windows XP (which they know) or a private distribution that requires typing commands in a terminal, even for installing basic functionality, they will use Windows.
Another thing to keep in mind is, is a netbook a small computer or phone-ish gizmo? Linux on a netbook as a small computer is not really interesting for most consumers: Microsoft dropped the prices on XP for netbooks, hardware specs are going up, and people can install pirated/non-pirated Office on their netbook. Why would they not use the same system as their home computer? Whereas, if we see a netbook as an mobile gizmo (forgive me for using that word), it does not need to be functionally equivalent to a home PC. But it requires a consistent interface, an easy manner to get or purchase applications, and a single consistent API for game and application vendors to write applications for the platform. Think iPhone, but differently. Android is a good contender for providing a software layer for such products.
Consistency is also one of the reasons why I, even though I am a daily C++ user, prefer to see Android restricted to Dalvik-based languages (Java, Scala, etc.). Having multiple runtimes, widget toolkits, and package managers is not going to help anyone in that space.
Edited 2009-01-03 09:06 UTC