This really depends on how you use the apps on your netbook.
For example, I usually open >10 windows simultaneously in Firefox, so that I can jump from website to website quickly. Hence I find that 2GB RAM is necessary.
Technically, the issue is really whether your app usage will cause Windows to do memory paging. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paging) If so, this will trigger Windows to do read/write operations on hard disk, which is much slower than RAM read/write. |