"Some of them installed Windows on these machines, adding nearly
one third of the purchase price on top of what the hardware costs.
Windows did not run very well either.
"Then Microsoft entered negotiations with manufacturers of
netbooks like the ASUS EeePC. They demanded that netbooks shall
never exceed a certain amount of power. They must remain slow
little things, and if manufacturers agree, they would be able to
buy Windows licenses from Microsoft at lower prices. Needless to
say, manufacturers shifted and are now shipping (a butchered
version?) of Windows XP on these machines. It was all a great big
tactical move for manufacturers to force Microsoft to lower the
price on Windows XP licenses -- or that is my opinion. They were
never interested in doing a good job with Linux."