Microsoft boasts that 96% of netbooks now run Windows

[Soleron]

ramses01 said:

Alby_da_Wolf said:

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If it was MS to sell PC's segmenting OS according to these criteria, it would be normal, but MS doesn't sell PC's, it's imposing these criteria to PC producers it sells its OS to. This at least raises some doubts, it's like if I sold to a retailer basic nylon and luxury silk umbrellas and forced him to sell the basic ones only to people short, with a leg missing and poor clothes.

 

 

 That is an incorrect analogy.  MS isn't forcing anyone to do anything.   They are simply exercising control over the approved use of their products to protect their brand.   The customer elects, or not, to purchase the license.

MS is saying to the customer, netbook manufacturers, I will sell this specific version of an OS designed and priced for Netbooks.  However, as a condition of that sale only products meeting these characteristics are eligible for that price and feature set.  This prevents cannibalization of the full OS market on laptops.

You're assuming that netbook manufacturers have the choice to say "No". But they don't. If they said that, they would be charged full price (>$100 instead of $30) for Windows Vista instead and thus would go out of business in competition with those who accepted the deal. If they didn't offer any version of Windows then they wouldn't sell many netbooks because Windows is all the consumer knows due to the existing desktop monopoly.

So it's accept the deal or don't make netbooks profitably.