The netbook belongs to Linux

David M Williams
Monday, 29 June 2009 14:42

Business IT - Technology

Why do Microsoft and vendors like ASUS continue to push the line that Microsoft Windows is the ultimate operating system for the diminutive ultraportable netbook market? The Windows 7 plan for netbooks is fraught with limitation and burdens. It's time to bring back the penguin.

Ok, the much hyped “year of the Linux desktop” never eventuated but Linux certainly has its place in the enterprise and server market.

When it comes to netbooks Linux had its day in the sun – before that sun abruptly turned stormy as the market switched to Windows XP.

Ironically, the netbook market would not have existed without Linux. In an age where most hardware manufacturers are looking to multi-core, 64-bit systems ASUS dared bring out the 7” ASUS Eee Linux PC prior to Christmas 2007.

These things flew off the shelves. Who would have predicted the punters would want a cheap, low-powered tiny laptop?

Sure, maybe some buyers were disappointed with the screen or keyboard size. Some wanted more disk space. Despite these, nobody was complaining about the weight, and certainly not about the price.

One of the greatest selling points of the Eee was price. This was achieved partially by using low-end hardware and partially by totally eradicating all software licensing costs by using the free open-source operating system, Linux – specifically, a custom version of Xandros.

The Eee was so popular that it was not long before competition arose. I listed 39 models available before Christmas last year.

The magic formula of Linux plus netbook didn’t stick. Within months of the original Eee there were Windows XP variants to be found. Before twelve months had passed MSI’s director of US sales Andy Tung reported four times as many MSI netbooks running Linux were being returned than those running Windows XP.

Tung said MSI’s research showed consumers were attracted to the low price tag of netbooks but then got turned off because the operating system was unfamiliar to them.

And so on it went. The bulk of vendors began switching their ways so that Windows XP was their majority, if not only, platform.

Earlier this year I questioned if Linux-based netbooks were becoming extinct. I’d spoken with ASUS and Dell representatives in Australia. Dell told me they did not sell, and had no plans to sell, their mini notebook range with Linux bundled in this region. They claimed their market research showed consumers did not want it.

ASUS were not so dogmatic; they still released 5% of their netbooks with Linux but produced 95% with Windows XP.

I’d been following a Department of Education and Training (DET) tender in New South Wales (NSW) to supply netbooks to hundreds and thousands of secondary school students. This lucrative deal was awarded to Lenovo and Microsoft.

I had imagined how magnificent it would be Linux to gain a foothold in education like this. No doubt Microsoft similarly recognised how terrible it could be for them if a Linux-based solution came out victorious.

Yet, in the end it seems, to me, no serious Linux contender was actually put forward. Dell doesn’t sell Linux-bundled netbooks in Australia and ASUS didn’t submit a Linux-based option in their unsuccessful tender bid.