Digital Home Thoughts: Getting The Most Out Of Your Netbook

"The hardware is only part of the picture for any computing solution, netbook or otherwise. The right software tools can often make a big difference on the utility a consumer gets from a given netbook. Here are my five “must-have” programs for netbooks. These are only my own choices, your needs may vary. They are utilities for the Windows platform, so they are not restricted to netbook use."

Image courtesy of Google Inc.

So you thought that you needed a light-weight, easy to carry, just good enough computing device, and picked up a netbook. It was glorious. No more hernias, cramps or pressure marks from carrying a bag with a conventional laptop. However, the honeymoon is now over, and you are finding that the netbook is a bit constricting. Maybe its the sluggish behaviour. Maybe it is the eye squinting. Maybe it is the constant mousing to just the right exact spot. Well, James Kendrick offers some suggestions that might help you. I have moved my mini-laptop over the to Linux world (Easy Peasy, if you must know) however, a lot of the suggestions make sense for someone who has a Windows based netbook. I still favour Firefox, and would prefer Firefox Weave over Xmarks, but to each their own. The biggest suggestion I would make though, especially if your netbook is of the Flash/SSD variety, is use "portable" apps instead of the regular install. Portable apps tend to be better optimized for Flash/SSD based devices with fewer writes, which can often cause slow performance. What are your suggestions for getting the most out of your netbook?