"The problem is Windows XP. The first netbooks were delivered
with a customized version of Linux installed. Since the interface
looked very different from Windows it was clear to most people that
these were not full computers but companion devices. These devices
sold well, even if they were not making a killing in the market
like current netbooks are. The problem is that a lot of shops
complained about Linux. Not on technical grounds, Linux is an
excellent operating system and is ideally suited to netbooks, but
more because it was unknown to most salesmen and consumer, and that
it was difficult for an ignorant salesman to sell the OS to the
ignorant consumer."
