Microsoft vs. PC makers

[delanvital]

A long but interesting read

I wonder how much MS will budge, if at all.

[Zootoxin]

A long but interesting read

I wonder how much MS will budge, if at all.

Could be good news for Linux development?

[T-Bag]

Right, if Microsoft don't budge I think they will suffer hugely. Windows 7 is a great operating system, but Linux is already shipping on many Netbooks so they can cut out that $15 fee, I think they'll be cut completely out of the most lucrative section of the market.
With Android coming too then I really think they will have to adjust their position. Google are great. They decide to do webmail and overnight the whole market has to offer 1-2GB just to stay in business. Before gmail there were caps of 15mb on most accounts. They start doing a mapping service and now people use nothing else.

They have considerable power to redefine any current market and with netbooks generally all using the same base hardware, atom cpu and intel graphics if they aim for that they have a large wedge with which they can force themselves the market. I think we'll see a fairly large change in this sector. On a netbook you want internet and email...and google does those well. Some want pictures and video, they know those very well too (Picasa and youtube), some want word processing and slideshows (Google office). I can't see a better time to launch a product like this. I will certainly try it if it works on my system.

[smilodon]

As more and more functionality goes on-line, which OS you use becomes less and less relevant. The only real reason why the average PC owner needs Windows is for gaming. Ironically Microsoft seem intent on getting us all to buy an Xbox which would end our reliance on their OS completely :g:

Microsoft are going to have to make software that I actually want to own, rather than software I need to own.

Charging a high price is just going to make more people take the plunge and go for a free OS. Apple seem determined to price themselves out of the market with their obscene hardware price tags. If Microsoft don't see the light either it can only be good for a free OS

[delanvital]

As more and more functionality goes on-line, which OS you use becomes less and less relevant.

An interesting point indeed :g:I had not really thought about how the web office tools from Google etc. actually made it OS-independent. I don't think MS fears that as much as they should. Conversatism; they would assume the base of windows, internet explorer, office, the interface, drivers etc would keep them strong...

[smilodon]

I think it would be a great future for PC users. We would be buying our operating system and software based on having what we really want and not on what we felt compelled to have. If the new Windows was a completely stunning piece of software and well worth Ã,£150 or whatever Microsoft are going to ask for it, then  I would be happy to 'choose' it. If it was a Windows ME or Vista like mess I'd like to be able to 'choose' to install Ubuntu or Max OSX or whatever.

As cloud computing etc takes off we're going to find we're liberated from our desktop. That can only be good for us.

Of course if a company's business model has been to get a monopoly control of the desktop and to use it to lock it's customers into it's software rather than to produce really great software that people actually want to own, then I'd be very concerned right now.

[delanvital]

What I like about the netbook, and cloud computing, is that it makes you realise how little you need the PC for, in the daily routines.

A little more on the subject here. I especially like the fact that MS doesn't ignore Linux as much as they would like you to believe, making it a viable threat

More important, netbooks and similar devices could weaken Microsoft and Intel, which have so far dominated the PC industry and extracted most of the profits. To keep Linux off most netbooks, Microsoft has had to discount Windows XP from $40-45 per copy to $10-15. This, along with the general weakness of the PC market, explains why its earnings dropped almost a third in the first quarter of this year. To make more money from netbooks, it will offer a minimalist ââ,¬Å"starterââ,¬Â edition of Windows 7, the new version of its operating system due out in October.

I also had no idea that Intel has a Linux version they promote:

At Computex, Acer announced that it would use Android together with an Intel chip. Other firms are expected to follow suit. Intel is also pushing another version of Linux, called Moblin. Its long partnership with Microsoft notwithstanding, Intel does not seem to care what operating system netbooks use, provided they contain the firmââ,¬â,,¢s chips.

[delanvital]

I wanted to check out Moblin and found they describe it as:

The Moblin Architecture is designed to support multiple platforms and usage models ranging from Netbooks to Mobile Internet Devices (MID), to various embedded usage models, such as the In Vehicle Infotainment systems.

For a second I forgot it was Intel behind that and figured "nice cross-functionality" and I wanted to try the image in a Virtual Box, only to realise it requires intel graphics

http://moblin.org/documentation/test-drive-moblin