Well, if the Plans are anything like their 'Rocket Stick' (USB data stick) plans for notebooks, that $35 will likely get you 500 MB of data. That's really useful for an internet connection.

Bend over and spread 'em, Canadians....

Why consider the exorbitant cost of 'upgrading' my netbook currently running (very well indeed, thank you) XP and - by many reports - the subsequent drop in benchmarks?

My virtualization? Sticking with XP.

Steven @ Microsoft: How about "The Device That Covered Our A** for Much of 2008-2009"?

They may wish to underplay the value of 'netbooks' (I've always thought of my Eee as a subnotebook) as that they don't garner the same profit margin for them as a notebook, but without them in the marketplace and Microsoft's hurried efforts to get any OS into them, its hard to imagine any relevance the company would have at all over the last two years. And netbooks likely pushed the development and release of Win7 forward by many months.

Noted the above and downloaded and installed the 32 version without any (apparent) problem. That said, without out (apparent) improvements either, so let's just assume its all 'under the hood' stuff and live with that.

Certainly the end result was less-problematic than some 'enjoyed' with an OS Update from the Other Guys not too long ago.

As for Win7, it'll be at least this time next year before the SP1 lands on that OS (at which time making the OS actually usable), so today's download is worth the trouble, I guess.

(Oh, and did I mention I'm composing this comment off my 'old' Linux ASUS Eee 701 at a wifi hotspot - without any issues whatsoever....)

Nice idea, but as noted, at least $400 too expensive.

And, as recent netbook models have shown, their original compact size has been tossed in favour of larger footprints - presumably for vision-challenged touch typists.

Yeah - my original Eee cost me $399 when the devices first came out. Size and price were two of the major things that attracted people to them - and both have been abandoned by ASUS and others. Netbooks now seem to cater to optically-challenged touch typists.

Thanks to the licensing demands of Microsoft XP, all netbooks are pretty much of a kind hardware-wise - and so when Dell can announce a $299 Inspiron Mini 10, one feels that with a $565 Eee, ASUS is hoping to get spillover from the Apple 'form over function' crowd.

Maybe I just don't get it?

People get all moist about their Blackberry or iPhone - with their limited and tiny screens, keyboards and hardware - and then complain that netbooks aren't as large and functional as notebooks.

Netbooks weren't intended to be primary computers, but as a basic, small additional device in a familiar and more functional layout. Heck, when ASUS first released the Eee, their intended market (if you went by the marketing material) wasn't even adults.

Footprint creepage while keeping the (Microsoft imposed, as long as they run XP) hardware specs is catering to those who want a cheap notebook, not a convenient, portable and, more importantly perhaps, secondary device - like a Blackberry or iPhone.

More proof that ASUS (and 'netbooks' in general) have lost their way....

One of the appealing features of the original Eee 700 and 900 series netbooks was their size - one could almost forgive their tight keyboards and meagre hardware specs (especially when running XP) for the sheer convenience of having a truly portable device that one could toss into the smallest sachel or bag.

Then it appears that vision-challenged touch typists became the market to play for and netbooks from all manufacturers started to creep up in size - the 10.x" models in much larger bodies now the norm.

But taking netbooks to 10, 11.6 (as per the above) or 12" the truly begs the question as to whether these devices are maintaining the original vision and convenience - and whether these units are simply now just underpowered and under-spec'd notebooks.

$2.99 per App?

Back in the day, Palm was the de facto corporate (and student and medical and legal) device - the Blackberry of their day - and they benefited hugely by the vast community of freeware development that went on. It created a library of Apps that even Apple could only wish for, even today.

Corporate ennui killed off Palm (0.9% worldwide market share in smartphones), but both Blackberry and Apple could benefit from encouraging - and promoting - an enthusiastic community of freeware developers and not try and nickle, dime and dollar their end users with 'Worlds' or 'Stores' for much that is available.

Brings new meaning to the phrase 'Insert and Rotate'.