[Edi]

AFAIK there is no separate netbook version. CoE3 has been designed as a netbook version, which is why some UI solutions are what they are. It does have the option to use lower resolution settings, but the detail level is not handled the same way as it was in Dom3 (grass etc).

As far as coding a text chat into the game, why? It comes down to the distribution of resources, in this case meaning the distribution of time Johan has available to spend on the game. IRC or similar is a quite adequate way to communicate with other players in an MP game and that way the time that would otherwise be needed for the text chat can be used to do some other features instead.

It's a case of prioritization and given the scarcity of resources, at least for me a built in text chat is very low priority.