For Linux-Based Netbooks, the New Kids May Hold the Most Promise

by Sam Dean - Aug. 10, 2009Comments (0)

There is a lot of hubbub about Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 operating system and its prospects on netbooks, which remain a hot-selling hardware category, but what about Linux on netbooks? Asus and others were early to deliver Linux-based netbooks, Dell continues to offer Ubuntu-based systems, and there are new, Linux-based operating systems that may have bright netbook futures.

We've made the point several times that Linux and open source applications can get a big boost by being successful on lightweight, inexpensive portable systems. Still, if you go to a retail outlet to shop for a netbook, you rarely see Linux. Why is that, and what prospects does Linux really have on netbooks?

Whether Windows 7 is a hit operating system or not, one key advantage that Microsoft has in the fast-growing netbook space is the same advantage it had before netbooks came to be: power in the sales channel. It's non-accidental that if you walk into a Best Buy store you see countless Windows desktops staring back at you over where the computers are. Microsoft has worked for years with OEMs to get them to pre-load Windows, and it works with large retail stores on prominently showing off Windows computers.

As Dana Blankenhorn points out, sell-through and no hassles--which can basically be summed up as support--are also key components in how Microsoft succeeds in many types of sales channels. He writes, regarding what Taiwanese OEMs want when bundling an operating system:

"...Support that will get the product off the shelf. As I’ve said before there is a price lower than free. Taiwan demands a Linux that will pay that price. Intel can, Ubuntu can’t."

Indeed, Intel can, and I agree that Ubuntu won't be coming any time soon with the kinds of support and sales channel conveniences that Windows systems do. That's why it's critical that the Linux-based operating systems that well-funded big companies are working on succeed, especially in the netbook arena. We've written before about the promise of Moblin, which is Linux-based, and it remains good news that Intel is committed to Moblin, and has handed the Moblin keys over to The Linux Foundation. Likewise, Google's Chrome OS, which is Linux-based, is aimed squarely at netbooks, and has a big, well-funded parent--one that could have support and sales channel leverage.

Much as I am an Ubuntu fan, support issues and issues to do with the sales channel may mean that in the long run, especially on netbooks, newer Linux-based operating systems backed by large companies may just have the best chance of enduring.