NVIDIA ION Netbooks Pushed Back to Windows 7 Release

NVIDIA's ION platform for small-sized, low-power computer systems has seen the light of day for some time now, but it looks like most users will have to wait a while before they can take advantage of the ION inside a new netbook PC. According to recent details that have been made available on the Internet, most PC vendors are holding on making available their NVIDIA ION-powered netbooks until the launch of Microsoft's much-anticipated Windows 7 operating system. Apparently, the combination of NVIDIA's ION platform and Microsoft's Windows 7 OS will provide users with a better, higher-performance computing solution, compared to Vista and ION-based products.

Such is the case with PC vendor Lenovo, which has been the first to introduce a netbook powered by said platform. The company has repeatedly pushed back the availability date for its ION-based netbook, with the ION-based IdeaPad S12 now slated to arrive after October 22, about the time when Windows 7 drops. The company currently sells a non-ION version of the netbook, which goes for a starting price tag of US$359.

The ION-infused N510 from Samsung has also been delayed, according to recent details, with users in the US now expected to see the 11.6-inch netbook sometime after the arrival date of Windows 7. The system is already shipping in some parts of Europe, but it appears Samsung has decided to wait until Microsoft is ready with its Windows 7 OS before it makes the netbook available in the US.

Other ION-based netbooks are expected to be launched before the year's end, systems that could also take advantage of Microsoft's Windows 7. Combining the ION platform with Microsoft's Windows 7 makes sense, both for PC vendors and for customers. This new OS has been optimized for the GPU, which the NVIDIA ION makes full use of, enabling increased performance for the computer system.