Intel wants netbook-centric apps

Intel’s hoping to see more applications designed specifically for netbooks, and has launched a program to help speed along the process.

The Intel Atom Processor Development program, in itself, is not that exciting. It’s basically a way for developers to streamline the creation process and reduce overhead by licensing tools and application modules from each other. The use of run-times will allow developers to write software for more than one platform without reprogramming.

What’s more interesting is the potential result: If the program takes off, we should start seeing lighter applications designed with netbooks’ inferior hardware and smaller screens in mind.

This is something I’d definitely like to see as an existing netbook owner.  As it stands, I’m generally afraid to run most programs, such as music players and IM clients, natively on my netbook. Often times, I’m resorting to Web apps, which tend to be lighter, but can also put a strain on my browser.

It’d be great to see a suite of apps geared specifically towards netbooks. Some observers, such as Engadget, wonder if this program is just a way for Intel to put off real innovation on the hardware side, but hardware improvements won’t help existing netbook owners. And even if the hardware gets more powerful, there’s no guarantee it will be able to handle applications used by standard notebooks.

Acer, Dell and Asus are among the manufacturers supporting the program, with the latter company pledging to build an app store around the software. This, along with the promise of new Linux distributions, could slowly shift the netbook away from being a traditional, Windows-based computer. As I’m learning through experience, that’s a good thing.