We recently reported that the dual booting netbook from Acer should be available to purchase from November. At the time we had no price for the netbook but, the machine is now up for pre-order on Amazon, with a retail price. The Acer Aspire One D250 is available to pre-order for a price of $349.99. No specific release date is listed.

The netbook will dual boot Android and Windows XP. A Windows 7 model should also be available with the release of a Windows 7 model in Japan.

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One of the first reviews of the Acer Aspire One D250 has surfaced. The netbook dual boots with Android and Windows XP which is relatively easier. It’s noted that a twin power button would have been great but, none the less switching between operating systems is easy. A reboot dialogue allows users to switch between XP and Android. Shutting down was quick and loading into Android took around 20 seconds.

The netbook overall receives a verdict of disappointing and feels semi finished, most of which is attributed to Android. The Android Market has been removed from the OS along with the ability to block sideload software, making it a “closed OS”. On the other hand, Acer seem to have also reworked the OS so that it fits the larger screen on the D250, which is a 10 inch display. Windows XP however works as well as expected on the netbook.

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If in the past, or even now, you’ve looked for ways to install Windows XP on your Linux based netbook, perhaps you’ve come across the article by Brad Linder of Liliputing. He wrote a guide a while ago on how you can install XP onto your netbook from a USB flash drive. While it does work it does require a bit of thought and time to do. I can verify this as I’ve also used the guide myself. Fortunately, he’s now found another way, which he claims is much easier to do.

Lee Mathews recommended an app called WinToFlash to Brad which makes the process much easier. A PC or laptop with a disk drive is required however, so if your netbook is your primary machine, you may need to borrow a friend’s PC. All that needs doing really, is for the Windows CD to be inserted and a 2GB flash drive or larger plugged into the PC then WinToFlash opened. The app will do the rest for you and then all you’ll need to do is plug the USB flash drive into the netbook to install Windows. You’ll also need to set the netbook to boot from USB.

You can download WinToFlash from Softpedia. It’s also noted, not only can XP be installed, but so can Windows Server 2003, 2008, Vista and Windows 7.

It wasn’t long ago, that we reported on MSI discontinuing the hybrid netbook, the MSI Wind U115. Using both an SSD and HDD, Microsoft requested that the company cease production of the netbook, most probably due to Microsoft Windows XP operating limitations. The Dell Inspiron Mini 12 is another example, mysteriously removed from the Dell website . When Windows 7 is released, only netbooks with a display of up to 10.2 inches, will be given the cheaper version of Windows 7, while anything above that, while still a netbook, notebook licensing will be charged.

There’s also other netbooks, which due to the licensing limitations from Microsoft are going down and not as successful as they could be. Archos 10 features a 500GB HDD and 2GB, which is above the maximum of 160GB HDD and 1GB of RAM, so the higher spec model is only available with Ubuntu. This is also the case with the Dell Mini 9 with 2GB of RAM, Windows XP can not be run on it, only the 1GB model.

The final netbook which broke Microsoft’s rule, is the Everun Note. From the outside, looks like a typical netbook, 7 inch display. But inside it packs a dual core processor, where as Microsoft view netbooks as having single core CPUs. The netbook is available for $599 but it doesn’t include any operating system, which is where the netbook gets even pricier.

Lenovo’s reworked 10-inch IdeaPad S10-2 netbook fell into our hands recently and we were able to do a quick test drive with it, as well as compare it to a couple of other models. If you already have the original IdeaPad S10, it’s hard to say if you should upgrade to this “new” and slightly improved model. It does offer improvements in most of the original problem areas, though. Well, let’s take a look at it.
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The UK branch of MSI have put their word out on what they will be doing about the ban on XP being installed on Hybrid devices. The MSI Wind U115, which uses SSD and HDD for storage will not be recalled from stores in the UK, but rather, stay on the shelves until the stock is gone.

From the end of July, MSI will stop producing the U115 by request of Microsoft. Whether any more will be produced before then, Richard Stewart, UK Marketing Manager for MSI didn’t specify, except that production will cease at the end of July. So if you haven’t picked the hybrid netbook up yet and it appeals to you, nows the time before it’s too late and becomes a high priced ebay item.

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Bit-tech.net is reporting that Microsoft does not want netbooks running their Windows XP to have hybrid storage, that is thouse with both SSDs and HDD.

It was not really mentioned why Microsoft is enforcing such ruling, although it is quite obvious that this has something to do with industry competition. We all know that netbooks with dual storage would have option to run both Windows XP and other Open-Source OS.

The good news is, there is only one netbook which was affected by this Microsoft ruling – the MSI Wind U115 which was recently outed with both SSDs and HDD.

Now, MSI was given until the end of June to pull-out the U115 from store shelves.  And MSI has no choice but to follow Microsoft’s ruling to avoid possible issues with Microsoft which could mean their netbooks forever running without Windows XP.

The question is what will happen with those pulled out U115 netbooks? Will MSI re-manufacture them with either SSD or HDD only? Or remove Windows XP to some of them?

After spending a significant amount of time with Acer’s 10-inch Aspire One D150, here now is my full review of the said netbook. The Acer Aspire One, with its 9=inch screen, served me well all these months of owning it, but the AAO D150 turned out to be a worthy contender, not only to Acer’s other notebooks but the notebooks of its competitors, as well. Hit the break for the full review.
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Hungry for more info about the upcoming Asus Eee PC T91? Luckily, we have some. Recently, this convertible touchscreen netbook got its first showing in the UK, and it was demonstrated to members of the press. Pocket-Lint was there to cover the event and while they didn’t get to do a full review of the said netbook, they did get to snap several photos and have made a gallery which the above embedded photo is taken from. Pocket-Lint mentioned that the Eee PC T91 could hit the UK by May for somewhere around £500 or about $690 USD. However, that information is not final yet, so we’ll have to wait for official word from Asus to confirm. In the meantime, head on down to see more photos of the Eee PC T91 via the link below.

Via Pocket-Lint

Here’s something that may spark yet another rivalry between Google and Microsoft courtesy of Asustek and the Eee PC. According to a Bloomberg report, Asustek was said to be  preparing to install Google’s Android OS to its low-cost notebooks, which we all know pertains to the Eee PC.

In fact, Asustek has already deployed some of its engineers to develop the said Android-powered Eee PC although there is no concrete plan yet as to whether this will be finalized and released to the market.

But Microsoft remains confident that users will still prefer to buy Windows-powered notebooks despite the affordability of an Android-based netbook.

Gartner analyst Leslie Fiering believe otherwise though. According to Fiering, Android-based netbooks have better chance of succeeding since it may operate faster than Windows-based ones.

The key here is the fact that Android like the Linux OS are very lean and very open platform.