Netbooks aren't dead, they're just called Chromebooks now
They're Android tablets with non-removable keyboards.
The idea of a netbook was very small, cheap, portable, full-featured computer that you could use like a normal computer.
All the ports, your desktop OS, and so on.
Chromebooks ain't it, even if they compete in the market segment that made netbooks a success.
Basically, if you're lucky, you can find Chromebook-class PCs with less restrictions. Admittedly I'm in a lucky locale for such things, but the one in question i bought from a normal retailer
As a data point: I'm 100% converted personally. A Chromebook is what goes into my backpack and the device I use for all my general day-to-day UI clickery, and it's a better fit for my needs than Windows (not nearly as bad as it used to be but still sort of a PITA to make work as a Linux-focused dev environment) or Linux (not nearly as much of a PITA for a connected consumer network device but still has the occasional wart trying to get something weird to run).
Run Windows and Windows programs that I use.
> it's a better fit for my needs than Windows
Happy for you. The key here is your needs.
Well... yeah. Likewise your post is clearly about your needs, which are different. But that's not what you said, you said it "wasn't a computer" and you couldn't use it "like a normal computer". Which is obviously wrong. But I guess "normal computer" means "windows" to you, which (especially given the forum you posted on!) is a little surprising.
So what you wrote (but apparently not meant) seemed mistaken to me, thus the correction. But if you want windows then just buy windows. Your market is well served.
Normal computer means a choice of OS to run on it without having to hack it to do that job.
Chromebooks aren't sold as general-purpose computing devices. They aren't "normal computers" in the same sense that cell phones aren't.
>which (especially given the forum you posted on!) is a little surprising.
I'm a CAD developer and user. I need Windows for my work.
I would hope that this forum includes people who are in touch with the real world.
If you must use windows, then you must use windows and you don't have a choice. None of that has anything to do with the nonsense about Chromebooks not being "real computers" or whatever, that's just the rationalization you've decided on. Obviously they are real computers.
That's too high a standard. When we consider MacOS along with Windows and Linux, there are basically no computers that let you freely choose between all three without hacks.
And even just considering Windows and Linux, a big chunk of the laptop market only supports Windows properly.
A laptop that runs any normal desktop OS is a normal computer.
Psh, Fuck that. Install actual Linux on it (I have Debian on mine) and don't deal with ChromeOS (if you don't want to).
A Chromebook is a first class consumer device backed by a Big Threatening Tech Giant that works on all sites everywhere because no one wants to piss off Google. And it's still Linux and runs great. I'll take it.
I was too, and then AI came out, and now Codex just makes my Linux work how I want it, no needing to fiddle with .config/gconf whatever crap. I just tell it to fix my two finger scrolling on my trackpad, and it does it.
I mean, sure, I can torrent a copy or whatever. But there's a point at which you just don't want to deal with that nonsense. ChromeOS is Linux, in all the ways I care to measure. But it codes as "not Linux" to all the corporate overlords afraid of the nerds and hippies, and that has value too.
> ChromeOS is Linux, in all the ways I care to measure.
It's Linux the same way Android is technically Linux. You get this little box called Linux, and /proc isn't actually the "real" /proc because it's inside a VM. To each their own, but it's not (GNU) Linux enough for me.
I've done that with mine. Worked great, and now I get around 30 hours of battery life with a lean linux distro, as long as I'm only like reading websites or writing on it.
The hardware feels great to hold (though the touchpad is still meh). I covered the Google logos with a glossy black vinyl Obsidian sticker.
How's the Windows support with this flow?
All of them, specifically.
I don't want to think about which windows program can or can't run with Wine.
This includes:
* Microsoft software, from MSTeams to Windows itself
* Audio production software (DAWs and VST plug-ins)
* Games
* Device-specific software (like drivers/software for portable thermal printers)
* CAD (nTop, only supports Windows, for example, and don't tell me I don't need it; same for many Autodesk products. NX and Rhino don't have Linux support)
The last one is the most fun, as I'm a CAD developer who worked on nTop in particular.
Also drivers are often better on Linux.
CAD has been around since before IBM PC came out. It's not necessarily a demanding piece of software.
Still, scratch CAD. My favorite VST synths are Windows-based.
And I don't want to lug around extra kilograms just to make some noise.
hard to say without actually trying it tho. and depends on the device, of course - mine was like $250 when new, it's a very different beast than a $1,000+ chromebook. the higher-end ones are much closer to normal laptops.
I'm OK with having computational limitations that musicmakers had in 2000s. Heck, some of my favorite softsynths are from that time (Superwave P8, 4Front and other romplers, Dexed, etc).
The weak CPUs today handle them without a problem.
Hell, I've produced plenty of music on Intel Atom-powered Asus Eee1000 netbook back in what was it, 2008-2010, and I'm still using the very same software.
>low-channel sound cards
What do you even mean by this?
In any case, a USB audio adapter that solves all the audio issues costs $20 these days.
How's nTop Linux support coming along?
Aside from Microsoft Office, the rest is workstation stuff, and Microsoft Office is pushing "web first" (at least if their pricing is to be believed, the lowest O365 subscriptions do not offer access to the native apps).
I think you missed the point of the question.
> the rest is workstation stuff
Yes, I want to be able to run workstation stuff on the small computer I carry everywhere, so that I don't have to carry my workstation everywhere.
I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
Your e-bike can’t tow a carriage either, that’s not strange.
The netbook is a small and inexpensive machine that has enough specs to do the job.
And most computers today are beefed up enough to do the jobs I need them to do when I leave the house/office, even the cheapest ones.
Given the ability to run the software I use, my concerns are form factor, price, size, weight, ports, and battery life — in that order.
This little machine ticks all these boxes; very few others do.
Call it a "workstation laptop", and find me one in 10-11 inch size (with a screen that doesn't have 1 inch margins), has an amount of RAM that would be adequate 10 years ago (i.e. more than 4GB), has all the ports, and doesn't cost over $500 (so I won't have to care much when it invariably gets lost, stolen, dropped, etc).
You’re asking for more than that based on the passage of time, but software got heavier faster than hardware kept up.
For a list of devices: https://docs.chrultrabook.com/docs/devices.html