Is a netbook a notebook? Yes. Is a notebook a netbook? Not necessarily. Netbooks are notebooks that are small, inexpensive, and designed for people who mostly use a computer to get on the Internet.
Around the mid 1990s, the network computer concept was pushed by several vendors. The idea was that small computers called network computers could be inexpensive because they would rely on servers for storage and application programs. The idea did not catch on at that point, but the improvement of networks and hardware since then has changed things.
The netbook was originally developed as a small, very inexpensive notebook computer targeted at consumers in developing countries. The original models used Linux instead of Microsoft Windows to save money and to make it possible to omit the hard drive. Optical drives used to read CDs and DVDs were also omitted. Open Office, a free application suite comparable to Microsoft Office, is loaded on most systems.
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