Here's why: the Xandros distribution it comes with uses UnionFS. That lets you have one read-only partition that has the file system in its initial state, and another read-write that has changes. If a file exists in the read-write partition, it's used instead of the corresponding one in the read-only partition.
That has a major advantage: if you get things totally messed up, reboot and press a key and it will return things to their initial state--all it needs to do is wipe the read-write partition.
It has a major disadvantage: it uses up more space, and with a 4 GB SSD, I found that after it automatically downloaded updates, there was very little space left. Remember, the original version is still there, taking up space on the read-only partition, while the new version is on the read-write partition--and that's separate from the downloaded file containing the update that gets uncrated into position for use. After updating one or two programs, the SSD was totally full, rendering the system unusable.
You have two choices: (1) get a larger-capacity SSD and reinstall, or (2) download Ubuntu Eee (soon to be renamed Easy Peasy) and install it, wiping Xandros from the SSD. When I did that, there was 1.5 GB left on the SSD, and a couple of updates later, there's still 700 MB left.
That said: the display is gorgeous. The touchpad is respectable, and yes, it understands two-finger scrolling. The wi-fi worked for me at a motel a week or so ago when my wife's Dell Inspiron laptop couldn't get a usable signal. Yeah, the keys on the keyboard are tiny, but I will adapt, even with stubby little fat fingers.
So: as it comes from the factory, I have to wonder whether ASUS wanted to put people off Linux--imagine the fury of a parent or grandparent thinking he was getting little Johnny a computer for Christmas only to find that after a few minutes it says the disk is full and can't be used! With a larger SSD, or with Ubuntu Eee/Easy Peasy, it's a marvelous little netbook.
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I bought the linux variant. It works great out of the box, pretty easy. Detects and connects to wifi wherever I go just fine. The included OpenOffice suite ensures compatibility with both Apple and MS office docs. I did decide to upgrade to 2 gbytes of ram from the default 512 mbyte; it makes heavy simultaneous usage of several apps smoother. I bought Kingston Technology KHX4200S2LL/2GR 2 GB 533MHz DDR2 SODIMM Netbook/Notebook Memory (Retail), swapped it in for a cheap and easy upgrade. Thought I would hate the tiny keyboard, but I adapted just fine within a couple days. Hooking up external monitor/keyboard/mouse is easy.Couple negative points:
1. Lack of support for wpa2 wifi encryption, though maybe that will be solved in a firmware update?
2. I don't particularly like the two prong power cord, I'd like the option of grounding the power.
3. Occasionally when I plug the power in, it'll freeze and require a reboot. I suspect this has more to do with the sketchy wiring at my house than a problem with the netbook.
Edit: 2013-07-16
This awesome little netbook lasted until October 2012. The original power cord wore out a year previous, but I picked up a compatible brick from iGo. The fatal night was dark, but clear, and calm. It was on, low on power. I plugged it in. The smell of burnt plastic flooded the room. The screen turned black. I disconnected the power, waited a couple minutes, then tried in vain to turn it back on. Alas, its magic smoke is all leaked out.
I'm trying to replace this with a Google/Samsung series 3 chromebook, but the eeepc900 is clearly the superior machine. I ended up running a lean install of Arch Linux in place of the oem OS. Just before it died I was even running Eclipse 3.6 for jsf development! Fat chance doing that on this chromebook.
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I bought this model (cheaper, refurbished from a different vendor, with a gig of ram, sorry Amazon) and while I am not as well versed with different versions of linux as the other reviewer so far, Mr. Jones, I had the same storage space problem. When I started the netbook, it immediately wanted to update, and by the time it had stopped, I had maybe 50 megabytes free. So I actually took both of Mr. Jones options, I ordered a "new" old 14 gigabyte SSD from Newegg (make sure it is compatible with the slightly older M900 architecture), and I downloaded and installed eeebuntu.So I am very satisfied with the software on the eee. I am not a programmer or terribly conversant with hardware, but I work at a University in the department that provides computer services (servers, email, computer labs, etc) so I like to be conversant with different operating systems and easy sorts of computer upgrades and repairs. And the eee provides me with some access to a type of linux (Unix, essentially, right?).
As far as my evaluation of the hardware of the eee is concerned, everything must be measured against its primary quality, its portability. So I am not wild about the keyboard, and while I think the screen resolution is pretty good for applications and how the OS icons are set up, I find the resolution for surfing only acceptable. The eee is hard to balance on my lap (not a laptop or a netbook but a wobbletop). But, again, the thing weighs practically nothing and fits well into any bag that has padding for a laptop. You probably can't use this as a portable DVD player (even with an external DVD drive) and any video you play through media player is likely to be unacceptably small. And this may not have the power to run the most demanding app's (assuming you can find some that will run on eeebuntu). Still, especially if you get this cheap, this is a good ultra moble web surfer. I have found battery life to be around a solid three hours (I may have charged it too long early on, you may get more).
Honest reviews on 8.9/INTEL/4G SSD/512MB DDR2/LINUX/WHITE ( EEEPC900-W073 )
Great little computer, but owner/vendor does not respond to several emails and submit the access KEY for registration and efficiency. So this makes the computer inefficient due to a lack of value with customer service. So I am out of bucks for the moment!
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