Acer has about 9 percent of the worldwide market, and the Eee family made up about one eighth of its sales during the first half of 2008. But I don't know the breakdown between Windows and Linux.
(Incidentally, I'd love to know why the 1000 is only available with Windows in Australia - the explanation I received from an Asus spokesperson was that "this is mainly due to high consumer demand for the familiar Microsoft OS, particularly since it is available through retail only" sounded hollow to me. And it was small comfort to be told that "For those who want Linux, it can be easily and freely installed on this Windows version." Licence refunds, anyone?)
But Ballmer doesn't underestimate Apple, and it looks like he is taking a page from Cupertino's book.
Apple is "good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience," he wrote.
"Today, we're changing the way we work with hardware vendors to ensure that we can provide complete experiences with absolutely no compromises."
A bold plan, and one that might work with the big name OEMs. HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba together take 55.2 percent of the world market for desktop PCs, mobile PCs and X86-based servers, according to Gartner.
Can Microsoft deliver on that vision? Please turn to page 3.
Ballmer urges troops to slap down Apple and Google
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