[ Thanks to Steven J.
Vaughan-Nichols for this link. ]
“I think netbooks—small, inexpensive
notebooks—are declining because Microsoft and Intel
have finally succeed in weaning original equipment manufacturers
(OEM)s away from Linux and low-end—with corresponding
low profit margins —hardware.“This was always Microsoft’s plan since they
first were cold-cocked by the sudden explosion of customer interest
in netbooks. When netbooks first came along, they almost all ran
Linux. Microsoft, which was then stuck with the resource pig known
as Windows Vista, simply couldn’t compete. So,
reluctantly, Microsoft gave Windows XP Home a new lease on life and
sold it below cost to OEMs to kill the Linux desktop on
netbooks.”