The Eee PC can run Windows XP, you just have to do the install yourself. The onboard FLASH memory is better for a laptop that you take on the road (as opposed to a conventional hard drive with moving parts). Eee PC 8G models are coming out "real soon" and it's my understanding that that would be enough space to dual boot linux and xp.
azpilot: your story sounds a lot like what happened to a CA that I met in MCI the other day
...and for everyone else, NO I wasn't the FO that stepped on his laptop!