It really depends on the price point, but several of the top-selling netbooks with solid-state storage do still only have a few gigs of flash.

This was an hour-long interview with one or two quotes plucked from it. I do think it’s a fair point that Linux can slim quite well, and this gives it an edge on this new class of devices.

Linux certainly is highly suitable to 2G netbooks, but now the vast majority of major vendor netbooks, including the less expensive models, are running with small HDs (30 G and up) or larger SSDs. What I really want to see from a Linux leader like Novell is hints as to their strategy for competeing on netbooks that run Windows just fine, and how they intend to address the high Linux return rate that has been discussed here and elsewhere.

As for reporting on just a couple quotes from a longer interview, I concede that willingly but fear that was all I was able to find of the interview. I am certain our readers would love to hear your views on the subject in depth.

Z

I don’t know what the exact return rate is, in either the Windows or Linux case, but the fact is that thousands of netbooks with Linux preloaded are shipping every month, and most of those to new Linux users. That’s a big deal. That there are some hickups on what is essentially the first large-scale consumer rollout of Linux desktops to new Linux users is not a big surprise.

The basic point, I think, holds. People are less sensitive to the particular operating system when they’re mostly buying the machine to use the browser. The fact that there are some returns on Linux isn’t a huge surprise; it was the same with the Walmart Linux desktops a couple years ago. In a lot of cases I think people don’t understand that they are buying something different from what they’re used to. They buy a tiny $400 netbook and expect the full functionality of a laptop or desktop. If they have Windows on the machine, it’s more familiar. So maybe they’re less likely to return in that case.

We do need to continue to improve hardware support in Linux. This is a cooperation between the Linux community, Linux vendor, OEM and chip vendor. It’s getting better.

Though I am not a Linux backer myself, I certainly see that Linux is a powerful operating system and more suitable then Windows for some tasks. I also concede that a considerable part of the problems Linux faces in the marketplace are perception based.

How do you think big name vendors can help change public perceptions of Linux, and what is Novell doing in that regard?

Also, what lessons do you think the Linux community has learned, and SHOULD learn, from Netbooks?

If he were talking about MIDs or UMPCs I would agree completely…those devices are all about the internet. Netbooks, not so much. Maybe that will change when more 3G versions arrive with more connectivity.

I’m going to disagree on two points.

First, I don’t think UMPCs are “all about the Internet”. They’re meant to be general purpose, very mobile PCs, as their name (Ultra Mobile PC) implies. I would expect them to run Windows (if only because Microsoft started that initiative).

Second, I think Netbooks are all about the Internet, again as their name implies (network notebook). If somebody asks for a “netbook” and expects to do something else, that’s their problem. They should have asked for a mini-laptop.

That said, if they went to a Best Buy and asked for a small laptop, and the salesman sold them a netbook, I can understand why the consumer might return it. In that case, the salesman didn’t do his job — finding out what the customer really needs.

Steve

Check your facts. Nat isn’t Novell’s CTO.

http://www.novell.com/company/bios/index.html

Steve…you are correct that the nomenclature is borked, but that is the norm for these devices. When I refer to a UMPC or a MID I mean a device like the OQO on one end and Nokia internet devices on the other. Netbooks for me are the sall notebook computer devices like the Eee onward. Speaking for myself, my Eee is only on the net 10 percent of the time due to lack of WiFi APs. As I said…3G would change that.

daniel..source interview billed him as CTO. I took them at their word..if they were wrong, my bad.

Steve…you are correct that the nomenclature is borked, but that is the norm for these devices. When I refer to a UMPC or a MID I mean a device like the OQO on one end and Nokia internet devices on the other. Netbooks for me are the sall notebook computer devices like the Eee onward. Speaking for myself, my Eee is only on the net 10 percent of the time due to lack of WiFi APs. As I said…3G would change that.

I could be wrong, but don’t a lot of UMPCs (like the Samsung Q series) and MIDs (like the Nokia 800 tablet series) just have WiFi?

Granted, the Nokia probably is only designed for the Internet, but I think UMPCs are a lot more than just Internet access devices.

I do agree that many people probably use netbooks for more than Internet access. I just think that Internet access is their design point. Otherwise, how do they differ from sub-notebooks or other mini-laptops?

Steve