Which operating system would you choose in your Netbook?

If you hadn’t noticed, we’re in the middle of a raging Netbook war just now, which has inadvertently sparked off another battle, this time it’s the battle of the operating systems.

google android ui walkthrou Which operating system would you choose in your Netbook?

When Netbooks first came out, most of them carried a Linux based operating system until Microsoft made sure they had their finger well and truly in that particular pie by lowering the price of windows XP for Netbooks and quickly started dominating the Netbook operating system market.

In comes Google sporting Android and now we have a different game going on.

The much anticipated very first Netbook carrying an Android operating system is the Acer Aspire One which is due to start shipping in August according to reports and by the way, we have no idea what the thing is likely to cost. However, check this.

The new Acer Aspire One Netbook will have a dual-boot operating system and will also come with Windows XP as well as Android. Google and Microsoft snuggled up side by side, who’d have thought it?

Is this the right way forward? Acer thinks it is and they’re probably right.

At the moment Acer have no idea how Android is going to be perceived by the consumer and neither does anyone else so by putting in both options, the consumer gets to choose. I like that.

A Digitimes report says “Acer will be able to promote Android as a value-added feature, similar to Asustek Computer’s Express Gate, to account for any price premium”.

If nothing else, it will be a value added feature. It’s actually a brilliant idea. If you want the reassurance of compatibility then you have XP, given that is one of the main reasons people apparently opt for Windows, but if you want the benefit of all the Apps that go with Google’s Android you get that too.

In other words you actually get a choice. In the near future we’ll also have the option of Windows 7 and Google’s Chrome just to complicate matters further but in the meantime consumers are actually going to have a say in which operating system they want on their Acer Aspire Netbook.

There are going to be some problems with Android for sure, particularly with compatibility, so by putting on XP as an option too Acer is bravely taking the safe option.

Bearing in mind that you cannot run both operating systems simultaneously, which one do you think you would be most likely to use?

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