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.

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.