Windows 8 features a new user interface designed for touch-friendly devices such as tablets. But you don't need a touchscreen to use the new Metro Style user interface. You just need a display with a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels or higher.
Unfortunately that rules out almost every netbook ever made, since most netbooks have 1024 x 600 pixel or lower resolution displays. That's a shame, because Metro apps would look really good on these devices. Not only are Metro apps designed with nice big, finger-friendly graphics, but they also tend to be full-screen apps which take advantage of every pixel on your device. That's something that's even more useful if you have a low resolution display.
The good news is that if you've downloaded the Windows 8 Developer Preview to test on your netbook, there's a simple registry hack that may allow you to adjust the screen resolution and run Metro apps. I've tested this hack on an Asus Eee PC 1000H netbook with a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor and GMA 950 graphics. If you have a different chipset your results may vary.
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