14 DAY TRIAL // Netbooks have certainly become the latest “in” thing on the PC market, and systems builders are trying their best to make their products more attractive to the general public. Starting from the physical design, each netbook is meant to provide users with a different set of features to make it overall different from those coming from the competition.
However, this can be a somewhat difficult task, as most netbooks on the market are basically built on the same Intel Atom platform, only providing a limited number of differentiating features between one another.
Lenovo, one of the leading portable computer systems manufacturers, has entered the netbook market with its S10 and S9 systems, both of which are powered by the famous Atom N270, running at 1.6GHz. The company's 10-inch netbook, the S10, is expected to provide a new Instant-on feature, much like the ExpressGate on ASUS' Eee Box or the IOS on Voodoo's Envy notebook.
The new pre-boot operating system is powered by SplashTop, as is also the case with the afore-mentioned PCs, and has been dubbed Lenovo Quick Start. This feature will enable IdeaPad S10e users to access the Internet, browse through YouTube videos, listen to music, view photos and engage in chatting sessions within seconds of pressing the netbook's power button. Lenovo hasn't yet confirmed the new pre-boot OS on all of its IdeaPad netbooks, so it might be a while before users can take full advantage of the new feature.
SplashTop is making its way into the world of netbooks, a PC category that can seriously benefit from this instant-on operating environment. The company that is the maker of the SplashTop OS, DeviceVM, has recently announced that it is working on enabling the quick-boot environment on all Intel Atom-powered devices, thus providing for MID, netbooks and nettops users an easy and fast way to access the Internet.