I've had just the opposite experience. I recently purchased a Netbook ( a good one too) because of its affordability, and I have to say every time I hear the XP start up chime I get a shiver. The hardware if fine, the Atom does a fine job, but XP is simply archaic, going on -what is it 8+ years now... it's far less intuitive then OSX, everything takes 3 more steps (clicks) to get going. Set up was a nightmare, hours downloading and setting up Anti-vr ware, ant-spyware, firewalls, close socket apps, etc. etc. The GUI just plane sucks, apps close when you want them to remain running, and the icons looks like something made by Fisher Price. Overall, the form factor is just too small to be productive with. All the text is tiny, unreadable unless you like working with your head-in-your-Netbook. Great to carry, small, light, nice screen, great battery life. But what good is carrying something you can't be productive with? Bottom line... Sometimes cheap is expensive.