"But the low-profit nature of the netbook game has already
started to take a drastic toll. Microsoft, which sells Windows XP
at a discount for netbooks, suffered its first ever decline in
Windows revenue last quarter due, in part, to the low margins of
the software going onto these systems. Atom chips also produce less
profit for Intel than standard laptop chips.
"In addition to disrupting PC economics, the netbooks have
shaken up PC politics.
"Linux has proved to be a very popular operating system choice
on netbooks. Companies like Hewlett-Packard have even gone so far
as to customize Linux on their systems in the hopes of a unique,
distinctly un-Windows experience. The HP Mini 1000 Mi Edition
computer, for example, actually runs on a modified version of
Ubuntu Linux, but you would never know it."
