i found these useful hints
http://maketecheasier.com/13-ways-to-customize-ubuntu-netbook-remix-for-better-usability/2010/02/07
and plenty of relevant material at ubuntu forums for adjusting & enhancing the netbook experience.

i’ve put some work into my current Ubuntu install based on 9.10 karmic nbr2 and am very happy with the results

screenshots of my work in progress at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoI4wRVVjBs

you make some very pertinent points in yr post about the power of NBR systems and the pitfalls en route . . to the bootable Linux CD that is solid enough to mount a challenge to the desktop monopoly, and offer a painless route for users to verify ( and if necessary patch) their new system beofre commiting to an install( which would also need to provide a seamless dual-boot scenario for those who wish to continue using other OS).

i hope that 10.04 Lucid as a new long-term support release may be that wished-for system.( tho there are still issues notably with wifi)

envisage a process . .
download .iso or boot from CD
install iso to bootable USB( woth persistent storage)
boot from stick to test and patch for target computer. ..

boot options –
run live CD “original” . . the starting point., ignore persistent data
run live CD “vanilla” . . the ( current )starting point., ignore persistent data
run live CD “patched for my system”
install “vanilla”
install “patched” – ( if patch tests all passed )
( and the usual safe modes )

patched would offer a diagnostic system test as per MS
with an interactive patch dialogue ( to stand in for the hours of hunting down and fixing problems )
the user can skip this and proceed and has the option to resume the process either from within the session or at the next boot.
once satisfied the user can proceed to an install .. probably via remastersys creating a fresh .iso which we can then use to repopulate our USB
whi
we’d need plenty of space on the USB drive –
i’ve been struggling to keep everything within my 4Gb root filesystem ( no fancy mounts) with my present karmic.

room for – the original .iso
the vanilla machine – presently the entire content of the USB
the patched machine – which starts the same as the vanilla machine

and plenty of time for the various scripts to shunt things about between iso’s and
bootable images.

i’ve sen some suggestive leads about chain loading from a number of .iso images on the same stick but at that point decided to settle for one stick at a time for the time being !

Jumping thru hoops indeed . .

i had no wifi or other problems once i’d got a running karmic9.10 but en route . .

after a sdd crash i fouond myself with only ubu 8.04 on my stick.
this booted and installed correctly so the next step was to get a 9.10 installed.
tried this with several unsuccessful iterations when the previously booting stick decided not to . .

who knows whether the cat mbr.bin ( intended to write the MBR of the stick ) had any effect or was superceded by manually running grub-install from ubu 8 to the stick.

.. more than we ever wanted to learn about grub n mbr n such !

but finally got to boot casper on the stick and from there sucessfully installed 8.10 over the existing install ( no formatting ) preserving some useful stuff . .

i’m an EEE PC user planning an imminent move to Ubuntu Lucid & Debian Sid plpanning to repeat the 8.04->9.10karmic process with Lucid if necessary iin the event the vaunted/ problematic upgrade path fails.

i’m hoping to be able to upgrade my machine rather than do a fresh install, tho i have by now got .iso’s of my present install and backups( dumps ) of gconf.

if all goes well i should be within striking distance of reliably creating bootable sticks from arbitrary .iso sources,

i’ve been using virtualbox ( non-free ) to preview the various iso’s

i’m writing now on a live session USB system created from eb4 – which is an NBR derivative using debian sid as well as ubuntu repos. touch wood it’s been fast n solid all day – with working wifi, sound, video and a good ubuntu desktop.
when i reboot to my 9.10 i shall have a good look at the USB disk to see how it works and if/ how it differs from the 9.10 version.

scuse the long post . .
Best Regards

I use VMWare with Ubuntu to create my USB boot sticks.

Jumping through hoops, yes, but still doable.