In the growing netbook market, where it once lagged well behind its open-source competition, Microsoft is now proclaiming operating-system dominance.
According to the NPD Group, the growth of Windows on netbook PCs has skyrocketed over the past year. Microsoft has grown Windows’ netbook market share from less than 10 percent in the first half of 2008 to a whopping 96 percent as of February 2009.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since we first started to see netbook 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.”
Evolution of the Netbook
Early netbook models were Internet-centric, with a seven-inch screen, a small keyboard and slow processors. This early generation offered 512MB of RAM — or less — and up to 4GB of solid-state storage at most. Today’s netbooks are far more powerful, with nine- or 10-inch screens, near full-sized keyboards, 1GB of RAM and up to 16GB of storage.
“Initially, some in the industry viewed low-cost netbook PCs as a new challenge for Microsoft and an opportunity for Linux to make inroads in the consumer market. Some believed consumers wouldn’t want or need their netbook PC to be a full-featured PC,” LeBlanc said, noting that the opposite is true.
Not only are people overwhelmingly buying Windows netbooks, but LeBlanc said those who try Linux netbooks are often returning them. He points to public reports from netbook manufacturers and Linux distributors that reveal a Linux return rate that is four times higher…