Peppermint Ice is certainly an interesting Linux distribution, and we really appreciate just how lightweight it is. It's a much more pleasant experience than using Windows XP on most netbooks. The SSB concept is not a million miles from what Google has attempted with , and it suffers from one of the same key flaws: By its nature, it requires almost constant connectivity, which just can't be guaranteed when you're away from your office's Wi-Fi network. Part of the appeal of smartphone and is that you can use many of them even when you can't connect to your telco's network.

However, it's undeniable that there are many popular Web-delivered applications -- and Gmail -- that people use for their work on a daily basis. If nothing else, Peppermint Ice is an easy to use, delightfully lightweight OS for a netbook, and not having a browser crash wipe out the rest of your work -- anyone who spends most of their days buried in a Web-based CMS will know just how much pain this can cause -- is great.

2.6.35-22-generic Openbox LXDE Ubuntu i386 or derivative processor; 192MB RAM, 4GB hard drive space APT