Best netbook operating systems – Windows 7 gets top spot

Most of the available netbooks out there are sold now with Windows 7 pre-installed. But while Microsoft’s OS can be found on the vast majority of netbooks, there are some other noticeable operating systems on the market.

Lifehacker recently conducted a survey on which is the best netbooks operating system, with the nominees being Windows 7, Jolicloud, Ubuntu, OS X and Linux Mint. The results look like in the picture below, with Windows 7 topping Ubuntu for the first place.

However, this ranking is misleading, because Lifehacker is mostly read by geeks and computer addicts and they are willing to install and try other operating systems than the standard one (Windows 7). This way you can explain the big scores got by the various Linux distributions.

In reality, I’m pretty sure things are pretty much different, with Windows 7 (or XP) scoring way better. Actually, if it were to conduct a survey on a critical mass of regular users, i’m pretty sure at least 70-80% would be satisfied with their Windows, as they didn’t even tried another OS.

Results of the survey conducted on Lifehacker

Still, the results on Lifehacker show that Windows 7 is also appreciated by geeks. Its pricey (unlike the others that only cost a couple of bucks or are free) but has the advantage of coming pre-installed, so customers don’t really feel the extra cost.

However, with lighter OSes like Jolicloud emerging (like the recently anounced MeeGo or Google’s Android), more producers might start shipping netbooks equipped with other operating systems than the classic Windows, thus more affordable. Thus, while Windows holds a dominating position right now, things might be a little different in 2 years’ time.

Source: Lifehacker

Popularity: 7% [?]

Tags: Android, MeeGo, Windows 7

Last updated: September 29, 2011 | Published: February 17th, 2010 | Add the first comment!