Are Netbooks Our Future Laptops?

When Asus unveiled the Asus Eee PC in 2007, netbooks began their journey. Although, the ride was a bit bumpy at first due to the fact most netbooks were only equipped with Linux as their operating system. At the time, Linux wasn't very well known with the mainstream crowd, and still to this day is not even a close contender to Microsoft or Apple's operating systems. A few things were a bit eye catching to the common consumer though. They were priced very low, due in part to Linux being an open-source (free) operating system, and their small size was indeed impressive. A typical Linux equipped netbook could be purchased for about $249. Over time, netbooks have not only gained a lot of attention and popularity, but also a good portion of market share from laptops.

Can Netbooks Really Challenge Laptops?

Netbooks taking so much market share from laptops is causing a bit of a stir right now in the tech world. So much in fact that Microsoft and Intel have tried to keep restrictions on how much power a netbook can have. This is why netbooks have so similar of specifications. Almost all netbooks come equipped with a Intel Atom Processor, 1GB of RAM (memory), and Windows XP. Soon though, netbooks will be outfitted with more high end processors, RAM, and Windows Vista. As well as DVD Drives, high end graphics processors, and much larger hard drives. Soon, netbooks could be on the same level as a typical laptop. Nvidia's new Ion graphics processor aims to bring high end graphic solutions to smaller netbooks. By utilizing this technology, netbooks will finally be able to play high definition content, and have better 3-D capabilities.

The Future of Netbooks

Netbooks are sure to be a challenge to the laptop market, but what can we really expect from future netbooks? Technology is already in production to give netbooks touchscreen functionality, allowing for tablet netbooks to be produced, some of which will be using the new android operating system. Hard Drive space should also soon be sparking some interest as new forms of memory are currently being unveiled. Solid State Drives have thus far been very expensive, and provide far less memory for the same price a typical, slower hard drive would provide. Utilizing new technologies, Solid State Drives will be able to have much more memory packed into them, and be at a fraction of the current cost. This will not only give netbooks more memory, but allow more room for other hardware, like DVD Drives, and Graphics Processors. We can only wait and see what happens with netbooks, but so far, their outlook is good.