Atom N270/N280 netbooks won’t be running Windows 7 anytime soon.
And for the first time, I’m not mad at Microsoft.
Intel’s N270 and N280 Atom processors are embedded in most standard netbooks on the market . Netbooks, which conversely run on Windows XP. These netbooks are priced very low and face a lot of competition. The extra $20-$30 it would cost to upgrade to Windows 7 would have a crippling effect on the netbooks in question.
To avoid this problem, netbook makers are seriously contemplating restricting devices with N270/N280 to running only Windows XP. Newer netbook models that will run Windows 7 will most likely be using Intel’s new Atom N450 processor – due out as early as October! That way they’ll enter the market at a higer and more acceptable price point.
The N450 processing chip, also known as the PineTrail and the Pine View, is the long-awaited successor to the cheap but efficient N270. The PineTrail comes with better memory support with an improvement in bus speeds from DDR2 533MHz to DDR2 667MHz, and an increase in core frequency from 133MHz/160MHz to 2GHz.
In addition to all that, the PineTrail architecture is designed to have both the CPU and graphics unit on one single smaller chip. The new processor will not only reduce space, but will also consume less power.
We can expect netbooks with the processor to come out anytime in October, and chances are we’ll be seeing many Windows 7 – PineTrail configurations by the end of the year.
Finally, here’s one good thing coming out of Microsoft’s tight reign over the netbook industry!
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Filed under: Netbook Analysis