Perhaps it's inevitable -- people react strongly to hyperbole, it gets them talking, it makes them curious, it's a quick way of making a subject hot. For years, every new MP3 player was met with speculation -- would it be an iPod Killer? Perhaps ASUS didn't release new hardware quickly enough before solid competition entered the market, but for a few months last year the term Eee Killer was thrown about. Yet, despite the bounty on their heads, iPods and Eees still exist, as do alternative devices.
As Microsoft allowed people to take an early version of Windows 7 out for a test ride, the -Killer suffix re-emerged. It's not an OS X-Killer. It's a Linux-Killer. I'm sure this is due in large part to the robust netbook market and Apple's absence there. It's interesting that suddenly Linux is seen as competition. It's also intriguing that this is portrayed as the nail in the coffin, and not an opportunity.
