In the last few days I have heard a lot of talk about what the netbook market is going to mean to Windows, in particular to Windows 7. Many comments I received on my blog seem to think that Windows will be left behind in the netbook market in 2009, in favor of Linux netbooks. Of course I do not believe that to be the case at all and it seems like the support for my hypothesis comes from CES 2009.
This week NVIDIA unveiled an extremely small form factor machine that is bound to get people’s attention both because it is small and extremely powerful. I am talking about the NVIDIA ION.
Interestingly, the NVIDIA ION runs on … Windows … Windows Vista Premium to be exact. Armed with the Intel Atom 330 CPU, the NVIDIA 9400M GPU (capable of full 1080p HD) and 7.1 audio. This is a system to keep your (pardon the pun) I-ON.
This is only the beginning. The ION has USB ports, HDMI, dual DVI, 1Gbps Ethernet, 3Gbps SATA (and eSATA connectors) as well as 2GBs of DDR-3 RAM.
I am hoping to get a hold of one to test a little further and be able to report back to you in more detail. Perhaps I’ll throw the Windows 7 beta on it and check out how it handles. Maybe for fun I’ll even install Ubuntu on it to try it out, although I am not sure why, it’s not like I can play any of the hottest games with Ubuntu installed.
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Ron Barrett, Director of e-Strategy for ClipTraining , is an independent trainer, author and consultant. He has been a technology professional for over 12 years, working for several major financial services firms and dotcoms. Ron is a specialist in network infrastructure, security, and IT management. He is the author of Office Communications Server 2007 R2: How-To , as well as co-author of Windows Server 2008: How-To and The Administrator’s Guide to Microsoft Office 2007 Servers. Ron has been a co-author or technical editor for several other books on Windows administration. Along with book writing, Ron has contributed to several industry magazines such as Redmond, Datamation and Windows IT Pro. Beyond writing, Ron has spoken at several technology conferences for CPAmerica, AICPA and MCP’s TECHMENTOR. Recently Ron has joined ClipTraining as the Director of e-Strategy in an effort to further the company’s presence via the Internet and social networking channels.
Ron's latest book, Windows Server 2008 How-To has been selected as the September 2009 book giveaway on Microsoft Subnet. To enter the monthly book giveaway, visit the Microsoft Subnet home page.
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Do you play often, Mr.
Do you play often, Mr. President?
...especially on
...especially on netbooks?
Everybody knows netbooks are ideal for gaming.
After all, looks like you're somewhat nervous, buddy.
You get what you pay for...
Ron, I wouldn't bet on this technology being all that. Although the cost of the Nvidia Ion technology will likely be around $400, when you add in the cost of an OEM copy of Vista Home Premium then you're looking at a netbook that'll be at least $500. Even then, it won't exactly be a powerhouse of a computer with only 2 gigs of RAM. Vista really needs at least 3 to 4 gigs to run comfortably in my opinion. Sorry, but I'm willing to bet you won't be able to play the latest games on it. I just don't see how games like Far Cry 2 or Crysis can do all that well on an underpowered netbook even with a decent video card.
better idea
just get a desktop and shove it in a backpack. Your comments are unneeded in regards to netbooks.
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