They took a couple steps that are important in theory, but will only really benefit you (in my opinion) once they are combined with other steps. Most notably, the Atom processor has a more efficient chipset, as the extremely wimpy graphics and the memory controller are on the same die as the processor. Less silicon area should mean they are cheaper to produce, but they don't seem to be getting cheaper.
Also, you know how some companies give you a "cost of living" raise, based on inflation? Like, if the past year's inflation was 1.7% you will get a 1.7% raise? Well, the newer Atoms are very slightly faster, but they might as well be slower because the increase in processing power is so small, and the software we use is getting prettier and more complicated every day. The "raise" Intel gave their Atom processors is like what happened to one of my friends this year, his so-called "cost of living" raise was nowhere near the inflation rate. The Atom didn't get enough of a boost- these days we constantly do GPU-accelerated Flash, photo/video editing, games of course, Windows 3d effects... the new Atom line is a big disappointment. You WILL get better battery life but the newer machines are pretty worthless for performance 🙁
I know, I know, it's a netbook, and nobody should expect them to be fast. I'm not complaining that netbooks aren't capable of HD video conversion, because it would be ridiculous to expect them to be capable something like that in a reasonable time frame. Still though, there was a survey a while back that found the majority of netbook owners were disappointed with their performance, even knowing what they were for...
Once the Atom goes 64-bit, out-of-order, gets DDR3, and a half-decent, semi-ok, not-laughable GPU, then I'll consider a netbook. I think Intel needs AMD to push them though or we may never see hardly any progress on the netbook front. Sadly I don't think AMD has many plans for netbooks. However, their ULV platforms are getting better and better, so that laptop (not netbook) battery life, as well as the price, which shouldn't be much above netbook price, should make consumers say "why would I even want a netbook when I can get a real laptop, with great battery life, for only a few bucks more?" And if Intel prices its ULV laptops competitively with AMD's, they will be shooting themselves in the foot for competing with their Atom netbooks... it should be interesting!
Ok, sorry, I got rambling. It's late and I really need to go to bed 😛 night all!
