MSI has announced an updated version of its Wind U100 called the Wind U100 Plus. Make sure that you get the right model if you're out shopping for a netbook, as we're sure a lot of retailers will try to flog off the old models as the new ones.

The Plus model has had the CPU upgraded from the Atom N270 to the Atom N280 which means a faster bus speed clock of 667MHz compared to 533MHz and the CPU is also 60MHz faster. Don't expect a huge increase in performance compared to the Wind U100, as you won't see it. The rest of the specifications is your average netbook specs, including the Intel 945GSE chipset (although MSI has it listed as the 945GMS which is odd), a 10-inch display with 1,024x600 resolution, a 160GB SATA hard drive, up to 2GB of RAM (we presume you get 1GB pre-installed), a multi-format memory card reader, 802.11b/g/n WiFi (a small bonus), Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, a 1.3 Megapixel webcam, 10/100Mbit Ethernet, three USB 2.0 ports, a D-sub connector, a pair of audio jacks and of course Windows XP Home.

For those concerned about the looks of their netbooks, the Wind U100 Plus will come in two new colours, Rose Champagne and Metallic Blue. Sadly the standard battery is a 3-cell unit, although MSI claims up to 7h battery life from it, which sounds very high in our opinion. At 1kg with the 3-cell battery the Wind U100 Plus is pretty light, although if you'd upgrade to the optional 6-cell battery this will increase.

MSI didn't provide an actual release date or pricing, but hopefully it should be competitively priced, unlike the Japanese models that were announced yesterday.

You can find the press release here