Acer Aspire One D255: Double the Core, Double the OS

Netbooks have evolved dramatically since they were first introduced. Early-generation netbooks were often viewed as underpowered mobile devices, capable of doing only the basic computing tasks such as internet browsing or word processing. Now, Intel seeks to alter that rather unfavorable perception a bit by releasing the new dual-core Atom processor, which, given its doubled-up nature, would presumably offer significant performance improvement over single-core variants. Like the previous Atoms, this dual-core version also features Intel’s HyperThreading Technology. To top it off, the L2 Cache capacity is increased to 1 MB.

This brand new Atom processor can be found in the heart of the Aspire One D255, one of the latest netbook releases from Acer. Aside from the dual-core processor, users are also provided with two different operating systems, namely Windows 7 starter edition and Android 1.6. You can select to activate either one through a dual-boot menu.

You might be wondering about the benefit of having two different operating systems installed on a netbook. Well, since Windows tends to be slower to load, it would be nice to have a light-weight, secondary OS to boot your netbook into when you’re in a bit of a hurry, such as when you need to check your mail inbox or open the browser quickly. The Android OS takes just 5 seconds to load. Some 2 seconds are required to close this operating system and shut down your computer.

That speed, however, comes with a price. There’s only a handful of things you can do in this operating system. You can view your photo collections, browse the internet, and play some music or movie formats, but that’s about it. When you need to do some more complex activities, you have to revert back to windows. Still, having these two different operating systems gives you a greater degree of flexibility in choosing the right environment for the task at hand. The Android OS cuts boot-up sequence to mere seconds, and that could be helpful at times.

Before booting into the Android OS, you need to make a one-time setting adjustment in Aspire One D255‘s Windows operating system. As you boot into Windows the first time, a menu in which you can tailor the Android OS according to your needs will greet you. After that, you can restart the netbook and select the Android OS during the next system boot. See our video below to see just how the Acer Aspire One D255 works with its dual OS: