UnderNetbook: A tale of two markets

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 05 March 2009 11:04

Opinion and Analysis

Linux netbook buyers might not need antivirus software, Cole concedes (although Symantec already has a Linux AV), but there are other aspects of security.

Features such as Identity Safe and SafeWeb from the new version of Norton 360 are applicable regardless of the operating system, and the company already has internal prototypes for Linux.

"What's the future [of attacks]? Deception. If you can't hack the products, hack the person," said Cole.

Even a relatively smart person can make bad decisions when they're not concentrating - and netbooks are likely to be used in such situations.

So while Linux may be relatively resistant to traditional software threats, there can still be a role for a different kind security software. Wouldn't it useful to be warned that the goods you're about to buy online are known to be counterfeit?

Sometimes the price is obviously too good to be true, but if the merchant is trying to pass off a fake as the real thing.

That's the potential market Symantec is looking to address, along with utility functions such as synchronising web username and password lists between devices.

Anyway, I've always been predisposed towards Linux as the operating system for netbooks as they were originally conceived, and I'm increasingly convinced that's the way to go.

But even if you wouldn't expect an upmarket netbook to run the latest and most demanding games, I can see why people might want to run at least some of the same software as they do on their (typically Windows) desktops or full-sized notebooks.

So I see room for both Windows and Linux to be successful in the netbook market.