x86 Pros: (all to do with windows I think. Are these what you were thinking? Did I miss any?)
- windows software
- windows drivers (probably less important for a netbook, but I sure wish my scanner and laser printer and wifi hotspots all worked with my eee PC's xandros).
- windows itself is familiar, and people know their way around it.
- Microsoft sells windows for OEM notebooks really cheap (like $20 I think). An astute move.
- x86 also runs lots of linux binaries (and other OSes), but I don't think this is a big factor since you can recompile (and eg ubuntu has done this for ARM already), and it's not a selling point for the 95% of people who don't use linux.
ARM Pros:
- lower power consumption (but I believe the display is the main power drain at this point)
- cheaper (but Intel mobile CPUs are priced competitively)
- to combat "windows software": webapps seem to be used more than native apps these days (what % of your PC time is outside a browser? I myself am only outside a browser for compilation and vim).
- to combat "windows drivers": a netbook is primarily mobile; and if it has 3G, it doesn't even need wifi compatibility.
- to combat "windows familiarity": the browser is already familiar. If that works, the rest is of secondary importance
- linux is cheaper than windows (though I'm not sure if that is true for special distributions with higher usability, eg. I'm sure xandros for the eee PC is sold for-profit).
Overall, it seems to be in flux: platform is shifting; price and power consumption must be considered over all components not just CPU.
However, there's a larger trend at work here: netbooks are waning in popularity. The eee PC is no longer available in the tiny 7 inch size, and the most popular one is 10 inch - merging closely with 12 inch laptops. The "tiny form-factor" space seems to be taken over by touchscreen smart phones (not just the iPhone, but also android and so on. Incredibly, the whole market is selling over 1,000,000 per. day.http://trentwalton.com/2010/07/05/non-hover/ I actually can't quite believe this). The phone invades from below; the netbook retreats upmarket.
So... what I really want is not a netbook, but a phone with keyboard and a larger screen. Some of them already do have (tiny) keyboards, and you can buy them as addons.
- windows software
- windows drivers (probably less important for a netbook, but I sure wish my scanner and laser printer and wifi hotspots all worked with my eee PC's xandros).
- windows itself is familiar, and people know their way around it.
- Microsoft sells windows for OEM notebooks really cheap (like $20 I think). An astute move.
- x86 also runs lots of linux binaries (and other OSes), but I don't think this is a big factor since you can recompile (and eg ubuntu has done this for ARM already), and it's not a selling point for the 95% of people who don't use linux.
ARM Pros:
- lower power consumption (but I believe the display is the main power drain at this point)
- cheaper (but Intel mobile CPUs are priced competitively)
- to combat "windows software": webapps seem to be used more than native apps these days (what % of your PC time is outside a browser? I myself am only outside a browser for compilation and vim).
- to combat "windows drivers": a netbook is primarily mobile; and if it has 3G, it doesn't even need wifi compatibility.
- to combat "windows familiarity": the browser is already familiar. If that works, the rest is of secondary importance
- linux is cheaper than windows (though I'm not sure if that is true for special distributions with higher usability, eg. I'm sure xandros for the eee PC is sold for-profit).
Overall, it seems to be in flux: platform is shifting; price and power consumption must be considered over all components not just CPU.
However, there's a larger trend at work here: netbooks are waning in popularity. The eee PC is no longer available in the tiny 7 inch size, and the most popular one is 10 inch - merging closely with 12 inch laptops. The "tiny form-factor" space seems to be taken over by touchscreen smart phones (not just the iPhone, but also android and so on. Incredibly, the whole market is selling over 1,000,000 per. day. http://trentwalton.com/2010/07/05/non-hover/ I actually can't quite believe this). The phone invades from below; the netbook retreats upmarket.
So... what I really want is not a netbook, but a phone with keyboard and a larger screen. Some of them already do have (tiny) keyboards, and you can buy them as addons.