KELLNER: Competitors soften Microsoft's roar May 4, 2009, 12 :34 UTC (4 Talkback[s]) (4780 reads) (Other stories by Mark A. Kellner)
"The netbook phenomenon is interesting: The tiny portable computers, with screens as small as 8 inches, run either a low-cost version of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system (lower in licensing price than any of the Windows Vista configurations) or some flavor of the open-source Linux operating system, which is either free or much, much cheaper than even Windows XP. Either way, a lower-cost or no-cost operating system on a netbook siphons money from Microsoft's revenue stream.
"Other consequences flow from that. If you have a tiny portable with, say, limited RAM and a smallish hard disc drive of 120 gigabytes or so, you're not as likely to fill it up with some of the "bloatware" typically found on notebook and desktop PCs, some of which may bear the Microsoft name."
