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I converted this tiny laptop into a Linux work machine, and it shouldn't work this well

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X Plus Storm 10 laptop ZDNET's key takeaways The X Plus Storm 10 laptop is available on the X+ official website for $369.

The Storm 10 laptop is small in size but big on power.

It has limited battery power and has a very light physical build. View now at X-plus

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Remember back in the early 2000s when the netbook took the world by storm? I certainly do, and I remember being seriously underwhelmed. Not only were the devices underpowered, but they were so small that using them was a chore. Those keyboards were impossible unless you had tiny hands.

So when X-Plus reached out to me to review the Storm 10 laptop, I begrudgingly accepted, assuming this would be yet another tiny laptop that was impossible to use with any efficiency.

Also: I finally found a mini PC with a striking design (and the power to back it up)

I received the laptop and saw that it shipped with Windows 11, which meant it would take a good hour until I could actually log in and start testing. Because of that, I often install Linux over Windows 11. I know Linux better, and I know that it takes roughly 5 minutes to install the operating system and log in for the first time.

Prior to getting rid of Windows 11, I decided to give it a try, so I'd have something for comparison. As I suspected, running Windows 11 on the Storm 10 didn't really show the laptop in the best light. It was sluggish and cumbersome to use.

After a few weeks of using Windows 11 on the Storm 10, I opted to install Ultramarine Linux and KDE Plasma as the only OS.

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