The Asus Eee PC 1001P is more than just a very cheap netbook computer. It very much signals the end of an era of portable PC computing that Asus single-handedly revolutionised in 2007.

Is it just me, or are netbooks becoming as expensive as notebooks? The "high performance" Eee PC 1201N is a case in point.

The team behind Eeebuntu, an ASUS Eee netbook-optimised version of Ubuntu Linux, has announced that compatibility issues with Ubuntu 9.10 – Karmic Koala – has led them to abandon Ubuntu and build their work upon Debian Linux from now on.

The popular Ubuntu Linux distribution has received criticism from an unexpected corner and its ASUS Eee netbook users are likely to be left with an unworkable system when Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala hits the Internet later this month.

They might have called it the Disney Funbook, but Disney Netpal is the name of a collaborative netbook product from Asus and Disney that may be the first truly serious attempt to provide a commercial grade computer product for children. The new netbook melds the creative design capabilities of Disney with the innovative Eee PC package.

You may know of Xandros Linux; for many people exposure came through the Eee PC, with this being the distro chosen by Linux-turncoat ASUS. Yet, what is Xandros' stance on open source software? Might Xandros be a thinly-veiled Microsoft tout as Linspire reborn?

ASUS has effectively abandoned Linux and stated a power user would use Windows instead. This backflip stands against the history of their successful Eee netbook line. Nevertheless, ASUS’ loss will be the gain of more savvy players.

Although Asus originally intended its first Eee PC 701 to be used in an educational setting, rather than being the catalyst that ignited the netbook revolution, Dell is the first company to have properly designed a netbook that can withstand the rigours of teenage and classroom life – and have outfitted it with a(n optional) touch-screen, while also making Ubuntu 9.04 an Australian netbook option for the first time.

At the beginning of 2008, the landmark Eee PC netbook running Xandros Linux left an unprepared red faced Microsoft with 0% share of a burgeoning new market. Nine months later, thanks to a resurrected Windows XP, Microsoft had 70% of the netbook space. Six months on and recent reports suggest that Linux on netbooks is down to single digits and heading south. True or false?

The netbook ought to have been the domain of Linux. It certainly started that way, with the inaugural 7" ASUS Eee Linux PC sporting Xandros. Then Windows XP came back into vogue and the vendors backed away. Both ASUS and Dell confirmed today that Linux features little in their future plans.