I honestly had no idea, and had never thought to ask the question myself until now. I asked my wife Allison (who is a more experienced consumer than I, and likely to know more about the distinguishing features of expensive gadgets) and she ventured the opinion that there is no difference, but she thought that some company (perhaps IBM) had trademarked the term "notebook" for their laptops.
I looked up both terms on Wikipedia, and found that when looking up notebook computers you just get directed to the article on laptop computers.
It turns out that when laptop computers got small and light enough that putting them on your lap didn't break both your legs, manufacturers sometimes referred to them as "notebooks".
So it seems there is no meaningful distinction. While notionally a notebook is a small, light laptop, something that was called a notebook a few years ago is likely to be considerably larger and heavier than the cheapest laptop you could buy today.
I have often thought it would be nice to have linux running on an ibook. I'm not much interested in MAC OS, but I don't know why I seem to like the look of their hardware. I would actually buy an IBM thinkpad, and just look on at the Macs, and like them for their body.
Laptop / Notebook
I looked up both terms on Wikipedia, and found that when looking up notebook computers you just get directed to the article on laptop computers.
It turns out that when laptop computers got small and light enough that putting them on your lap didn't break both your legs, manufacturers sometimes referred to them as "notebooks".
So it seems there is no meaningful distinction. While notionally a notebook is a small, light laptop, something that was called a notebook a few years ago is likely to be considerably larger and heavier than the cheapest laptop you could buy today.
how's them penguin apples
Ubuntu Dapper on iBook
I did recently install
I did recently install Ubuntu Dapper on an old Apple iMac and it worked great. Unfortunately I couldn't keep it.
Ruben
tregeagle.com