This is my 62nd visit to Taiwan. This time, even the immigration officers seemed happy that the world was coming here to see what was new in the world of computing, communications, and consumer electronics.

The initial crowds at Computex were short on visitors and long on vendors walking around viewing each other's wares. As the number of visitors increased, the diversity of the visitors became more obvious.

The busiest places I initially observed were in the areas where netbooks were being demonstrated. Leading vendors like Acer and Asus are not giving up on desktop and notebook platforms, but the attention in the booths I visited was much more focused on netbooks rather the traditional PC form factors.

Interestingly, desktops seem to be mimicking the Apple iMAC, with more of them being configured as all-in-one (AIO) solutions. Perhaps the AIO form factor will initiate a new wave of desktop adoption given the compact size, much more appealing industrial design, excellent price performance, and the attraction of a 20 inch or larger high-resolution display.

We may be seeing the return of the desktop PC in the AIO form factor.

After hearing so much advance discussion about ARM-based netbooks, I was surprised to find it difficult to find one to play with. Even though netbooks were everywhere, those based on Intel's Atom dominated the scene.

In a booth at the back of the exhibition hall, I finally found an ARM-based netbook using a Marvell CPU. It was offered by a Chinese vendor named Coby Electronics. As expected, the operating system was Linux, but the platform was one of many, and all of the remaining units were Atom-based.

ARM-based netbooks do exist, and there was plenty of talk here about them, but no real presence at the Computex venues you'd expect to see them. The private suites at the nearby Grand Hyatt Hotel must be where these little jewels are being demonstrated.

Chinese vendors at Computex

More cross-Taiwan Straits travel and the easing of visa restrictions meant there was for the first time a large collection of booths clustered in the back of the 4th floor of the Nangang exhibit center occupied by Chinese suppliers.

A key aspect of the netbook revolution is the always-connected aspect, typically via 3G. I saw one Atom-based netbook being demonstrated by Asus. The demo indicated that it was available from 20 different telecom companies. A logo for each global carrier flashed acrossed a screen saver at one booth.

After seeing so much written about the SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) following a show in Tokyo last week, I searched the edges of the Nangang exhibit hall for any signs of products or references to announcements.