Although Chrome and Android are not yet available on netbooks, the possibility of them coming out in late 2010 is being discussed. Many writers have already started praising Android and Chrome, while others are still partial to one of the many distributions of Linux available in the market today. In your netbook, ultimately, you want something that’s fast, simple, and easy to use. So which of these operating systems will be best for your netbook?

Chrome has the advantage that it is very simple and intuitive to use. It is basically a browser that only uses web applications. The advantage that Chrome offers is an extremely fast and simple boot time. Its downside is that it doesn’t really have the ability to perform many normal computer functions if you don’t have easy access to the Internet. This could severely limit the overall netbook experience.

Android has the advantage that in a few years it will be one of the most widely used smartphone platforms. Many of its apps will also work on the netbook version of Android when it is released. Having an Android phone and a netbook would mean all your apps would sync and work together. This could offer some significant advantages in the future.

Using a Linux distribution on your netbook also offers a number of great benefits. Regardless of what Android and Chrome are said to be able to do over the next year, many distros were doing it on netbooks more than a year ago. Some distros like the Ubuntu remix netbook offer the same advantages that you would find with Chrome or Android operating systems. There are even ways to run Android apps on it if you really need that functionality.

Whatever advantages Google’s operating systems offer, they are found in many Linux distributions today. It would seem advantageous to the end user to use something that is already open and free and has been tested for quite some time on netbooks.

There are quite a few operating systems coming out for netbooks. While there is a lot of hope for some newer ones like Chrome and Android, much of its functionality is already found in many of the Linux distributions available.