The latest ASUS netbook rumors are that the company is planning to shove a hard drive into the super-slim Eee PC S101, calling it the S101H. The S101 currently only features solid-state drive options, either a 16 GB with Windows XP or a 32 GB with Linux. While a larger hard drive would add some flexibility to the system, it's going to be a tough fit finding room for it in the thin case, only 0.7 inches thick, including the screen.

Apparently the reason for the tiny SSD, at least in the XP version of the S101, is that Microsoft won't sell discounted XP licenses to netbook manufacturers which don't follow its specifications for what it considers a "netbook". The company is trying to force Vista onto systems it considers proper laptops, and systems with solid-state drives above 16GB are too laptop-like in its opinion. Switching from the SSD to a HDD allows ASUS to continue offering XP while still increasing storage.

Right now we don't even know what size drive the S101H will feature. We'll have to wait until it's actually out to see how the change affects file access speeds and battery life.

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