Windows XP likely to disappear from netbooks early next year

Microsoft hopes netbook consumers will turn to Windows 7 Home Premium

According to theregister.co.uk, 'Microsoft has committed to offering' Windows XP for only one more year, however those of us who were planning to buy a netbook with Windows XP pre-installed, may not be able to after the New Year. Apparently, Microsoft are expecting consumers to buy netbooks with Windows 7 Home Premium pre-installed instead, and are planning their advertising accordingly. Microsoft will be promoting Windows 7 Home Premium more than any of their other Windows 7 variants.  

Don Paterson, a marketing director at Microsoft, said in an interview with theregister.co.uk that although Microsoft will make Windows XP available on netbooks 'for a year, we won't see it last in the market that long.' He believes that Windows 7 Home Premium offers greater value than Windows XP, and the knowledgeable consumer will act upon this. Whilst he concedes that there are consumers who have an unappeasable desire for 'the lowest cost' devices, he hopes that aspects of Windows 7, such as the Media Center, will appeal to the most reticent of patrons.

Paterson said that a substantial amount of individuals are using their netbooks for more than just web-surfing, supposedly, they are using Microsoft Office applications too. He believes this tendency amongst some customers will support Microsoft's share in the netbook market against the challengers: the increasingly popular Linux variants. OSs such as Adroid and Chrome OS, are apparently beginning to worry Microsoft. Paterson stated that the main barrier to Linux-based operating systems' success in the netbook arena, was the problematic 'community organization'; he said that there was 'no technical reason' hampering their success, and 'with the right persons' managing Linux-based OS development for netbooks, they could pose a threat to Microsoft. 

The limited capabilities of netbook hardware means that the market can benefit greatly from open source software, which can out-perform commercial products, such as Microsoft Office. Despite this, Microsoft's strategy of focusing on Windows 7 Home Premium may work in the long term. As netbooks continue to gain improvements in hardware, without compromising their low prices, Windows 7 Home Premium will become an increasingly viable and easy to run netbook OS. 

I feel the barrier to Microsoft's success in the netbook market is their pricing – which will always be higher than any free Linux distribution. There is an abundance of open source software, which can replicate and improve upon the Microsoft Office suite, so it seems Microsoft's position is untenable.  OpenOffice for example, can meet most people's document-manipulating needs, offering Microsoft file format compatibility, and a suite of programmes, entirely for free. Time will tell whether customers will be willing to pay a little more for their netbooks, just to get a Windows 7-based system.