Netbooks are experiencing a huge surge in popularity and there’s no reason to believe that this trend won’t continue for the foreseeable future. Netbooks are basically tiny laptops that are ideal for taking out and about with you when you’re on the move.
When the first Asus Netbooks came out a couple of years ago they came with Linux operating systems which seemed like the best and most effective choice at the time. They were efficient and everything seemed to be going very well for Linux.
However, recent reports from a Taiwanese research firm predict that Linux is only going to have a fraction (around 10%) of the Netbook operating system share this year.
That’s not the only report talking about Linux lagging behind. According to Laurent Lachal, open source research director at Ovum, the UK based analyst firm, “After a strong start, Linux Netbooks have now been overtaken by Windows Netbooks and Linux is lagging increasingly behind in terms of sales.”
So why is this, what has happened?
Basically, Microsoft made a very smart move. They saw the potential in the Netbook operating system market and quickly lowered the cost of licensing XP to Asus and got themselves into the Netbook market to grab a slice of the market share, and it worked. Why did it work?
It’s quite simple, most people are familiar with Windows and were therefore more attracted to something that they already knew and were more reluctant to get acquainted with Linux interfaces.
We all know the problems with Microsoft, such as constant updates and various glitches, but you know what they say; better the devil you know that the devil you don’t know.
Now in 2009, Netbooks are going to be shipped with Windows 7 which is bound to boost sales and maybe this is why Linux are expected to fall further behind.
It’s not all bad news for Linux though; the research analyst also said that Linux could be used as the operating system for smaller handheld devices such as the iPod Touch by Apple.
Also Asus have said they plan to ship Netbooks with Google’s Android operating system which is Linux based. Originally Android was designed for mobile phones but could adapt itself well to Netbooks and other platforms too.
Who knows who will win the Netbook war? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it all pans out.
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If Linux really wants to come ahead, they’re going to have to come out with a more standard netbook OS. There’s so many versions of Linux out there and for those of us that are not accustomed to using it, it’s frustrating. If they standardized one OS for use in netbooks, just like Windows or Mac OS, it would be helpful.