At long last the long awaited Windows 7 operating system has been unleashed. People all over the US have spent the night at retail stores waiting to be the first ones to snap up their copies. If you’re a netbook user, you way be wondering:

Is Windows 7 netbook friendly?

Yes it seems to be so far. Microsoft is not blind to the success of netbooks and knows that netbook users now account for a large number of computer users. The only problem though is that without a DVD drive, most netbooks will have trouble loading the new operating system.

Is this a trick from Microsoft to let netbook users out in the cold?

Nah…

You can apparently get Windows 7 via straight Internet download. At the time, I read about this, the link seemed down but keep checking it out and let us know how it turns out for you.

Who has Windows 7 for netbooks already working? How does it fare? Would you recommend it? Is the difference between XP and 7 like night and day? Come on, spill the beans already! [Microsoft allows Windows 7 via USB]

Google has taken the first official jab at Microsoft by announcing the Google Chrome Operating System today. It will be customized for netbooks first, hence our interest, then the rest of the computing world.

What’s the future like for this Google Chrome Netbook Operating System? It will be an interesting battle to watch. Google is playing two powerful cards in the software wars: open and simple.

It’s offering the ultimate alternative to Microsoft OS that’s vulnerable to viruses and other security threats, closed and complex and not really optimized for netbooks, the fatest growing computer segment.

Google said that Google Chrome Operating System will be ready in mid-2010. That should get Microsoft enough time to counter this big threat by stealing the show as they announce a simpler, faster and more secure operating system for netbooks and computers at large.

The ultimate winner as usual will be the computer user. When a monopoly is threatened is stops resting on its laurels and actually bends backwards for the consumer. I can’t tell how this battle with turn out. These two giants have enough resources to go at each other (most start-ups who try to compete with Microsoft fail mostly because of lack of resources) and they have to diametrically opposed concepts just as democrats are to republicans and vice versa in the US political arena.

Needless to say that Netbook Era will closely monitor this battle and update you on all the juicy bits and details.

Not surprisingly, the whole demand for PC has spiraled downwards except for netbooks that are seeing an explosion in demand. But this demand comes at a cost for companies such as Intel and Microsoft who would rather sell their expensive products in normal laptops than cheaper variations in netbooks.

In our own netbook coverage, here are some of the items that Netbook Era mentioned this past week:

- Plenty pics of the Aspire One 10″ netbook

- A cute pink MSI Wind U100 netbook that is a good valentine Day gift 

- A more functional version of Jolicloud, the netbook operating system.

As usual, please subscribe to the RSS feed if you have not done so already. See you next week!

Jolicloud, the netbook operating system that I wrote about a few months ago, has improved since like you can see on the pic above. I like the fact that the developers brought a different yet familiar approach.

While it’s being praised by the top tech bloggers, there’s only one hurdle that Jolicloud faces and it’s not a small one: Microsoft’s operating systems like the forthcoming Windows 7. I really don’t think that this giant corporation will just let anyone fiddle with its lunch money!

See: Jolicloud’s Beautifully Designed Netbook Linux OS

Microsoft has just insured that it does not lose the netbook OS battle by confirming to CNET UK that it will offer a Windows 7 netbook edition. Netbooks have come out of nowhere to become heavily used computers but their low processing power require a minimal operating system. XP has been the choice so far beating Linux senseless and there a lot of players wanting in including Google (a few days ago, some people successfully ran Android on a netbook).

To learn more about the Windows 7 netbook edition, see: Confirmed: Windows 7 ‘netbook edition’

Update: What’s going on? I think we were either fed the wrong information or someone is backing away from original claims. See: Microsoft: We haven’t announced a netbook version of Windows 7

Update 2: Laptop Mag was able to load Windows 7 on a Samsung NC10 netbook. See: Windows 7 Beta Runs on Samsung NC10 for how it turned out.

Rumours of the Apple netbook just got crazier to the extent where everyone is expecting a MacBook Mini netbook in January at MacWorld but wondering why Steve Jobs will not be attending.

Acer may have eaten Asus’ lunch but Asus still had a top gong to its credit as Forbes Asia named the Asus Eee PC netbook, the product of the year. Acer had another trick up its sleeves though: it was announced that the Acer Aspire One would be selling at Walmart. If you’re aware of Walmart’s mammoth distribution channel, you know how big of a coup this is.

Some pundits bet that Linux would take over the whole world but the marketplace decided that after all, it was more comfortable with Windows powered netbooks. See also: Will Netbooks Destroy Microsoft in 2009?

And so, those were the highlights of the past week (14th-21st December 2008). Thanks for reading us, your number one netbook blog!

Happy holidays!

What do you think?

Read more at: IBM Lotus Strategist Sees Linux on Netbooks Making Inroads vs. Windows in 2009

The race for the de facto standard operating system is on and all developers with interesting ideas should get into it. I can say that none of the big boys such as Microsoft, Google even Ubuntu will win it because they will try to customize their already existing offering to netbooks while smaller hence more flexible will totally create something new from scratch that takes into consideration the mini laptops’ features.

Jolicloud (Mr Krim’s latest venture) and Good OS are the two cloud operating systems that are garnering attention but in the next months, we can all expect to see new players and in about two years, one will dominate à la Google becoming king and making most of the money.

GigaOm put together an article showcasing some applications that can get any job done but do not require great processing power. Check it out at: 10 Ways To Trick Out Your Netbook for Free

I personally think that Google would have been better off getting into the laptop and netbook markets instead of the smartphone one. But I don’t blame them. Before less than a year ago, no one ever thought that the netbook era would arrive in full force. So everyone is trying to figure out how the netbook will play out and is jumping into the boat because it’s better to do so now even if it’s an unknown territory than to jump in later when everyone has a market strong hold.

Microsoft launched in the U.S. this week its online software store and is touting it as one way for netbook PC users who don’t have optical drives to more easily obtain software. - Microsoft touts new online store as a netbook complement

Netbooks’ operating systems may be eating through MS profits but it’s sure is not losing any opportunities to make some side cash.