We all know that around two years ago back in the old days the first Netbooks appeared on the market because we haven’t been the same since. We just love our Netbooks.
As far as models go we are spoilt for choice but we don’t have a lot to choose from regarding which operating system we would prefer.
Microsoft is now claiming that they dominate 96% of the Netbook market share and that not only do people prefer Windows, they are practically queuing up to take their Linux based Netbooks back. This is quite a statement.
So are the claims from Microsoft justified and are they really marching out well in front of their competition, the open source Linux and if so, why?
According to NPD the growth of Windows on Netbooks has skyrocketed to the extent that as of February this year, 96% of Netbook sales are windows based.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since we first started to see netbooks PCs running Windows come to market,” said Brandon LeBlanc, Microsoft’s Windows blogger. “Little did we know that these devices would evolve so much in such a short time. A year ago, they were Internet-centric devices defined mainly by their tiny size and low cost. An interesting concept perhaps, but sales didn’t really take off until the category evolved into the more capable small notebook PCs we see on the market today.”
According to LeBlanc, people want their Netbooks to function much like PCs which means we want the same operating system as this is more compatible with our existing stuff and we don’t want to have to deal with something we’re not familiar with.
Avi Greengard an industry analyst from Current Analysis said “Consumers are treating these more like second or third PCs in the home rather than a strictly limited-purpose device.”
So what’s going on with Netbooks and do we really prefer Windows?
Originally Netbooks were seen as small devices to be carried around when out and about in order to provide quick and ready access to the Internet and for that it doesn’t really what operating system the Netbook has as long as it connects.
Now it seems we are looking for Netbooks that do a lot more than basic web computing and if that’s the case then yes, the operating system is an important consideration and for the moment at least, Microsoft are leading the way.
On saying that though, the Netbook war has been anything but predictable so who knows what’s coming next.
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