Windows 7 will highlight Microsoft's "killer instinct"

In the server market, Microsoft has been very worried about competition from Linux. But in the ordinary desktop and notebook market, Microsoft has always believed that Linux has no threat.

However, this situation has changed recently. Compared to Apple's Mac system, Microsoft is now more afraid of the threat of the Linux desktop operating system. The arrival of Windows 7 will completely eliminate this concern of Microsoft.

At present, the main rival of the Windows system is the network notebook (netbook). Network laptops are not only lightweight, but also equipped with low-end Intel processors, so they are also very inexpensive. The main purpose of web laptop design is to browse web pages, process e-mails, write memos, and perform simple word processing or spreadsheet processing.

According to Citigroup statistics, this year, online laptop sales will account for one-third of total PC sales. Network notebook shipments will grow at an average annual rate of 60%. By 2010, its total sales will reach 29 million units. The average annual growth rate of standard notebooks is only 18%.

Obviously, the future market belongs to network laptops. Microsoft is worried that the network laptop can't meet the requirements of the Vista system. The only system Microsoft can run on it is XP. The Linux system is well suited for this low-profile network laptop.

According to statistics, Acer and Asus, which account for 90% of the notebook market, have about 30% of low-end laptops equipped with Linux. To make matters worse, if these low-end laptops are equipped with a Linux system, this means that Microsoft Office will have no room for survival. Therefore, Microsoft double-struck Linux laptops.

In fact, Microsoft is not worried about 30% of Linux system laptops. What Microsoft is really worried about is that people are getting used to running Linux on their laptops. According to Dickie Chang, senior analyst at IDC, the development trend is not conducive to Microsoft. The gradual popularity of Linux systems seems to give people a chance to try something new, and people can use it to discover alternatives to Windows.

Despite this, Microsoft still has weapons against Linux — — Windows 7. The next-generation operating system, Windows 7, is about to be launched next year. It's worth noting that Windows 7 can run on low-profile network laptops. In fact, at the Microsoft PDC conference held this year, Steve Sinofsky, vice president of Microsoft Windows R&D, showed Windows 7 on his own Lenovo S10 network laptop, and the operating system occupies less than 1 Gigabyte of memory on the network notebook. 1 half.

When Windows 7 was released, Microsoft is expected to take a large-scale advertising campaign, and Windows 7 will gradually gain the trust of PC vendors with its outstanding performance advantages, such as the hardware of network notebooks can use Windows 7 Touch function.

In fact, the Windows 7 advertising campaign has begun. ASUS CEO Shen Zhenlai said that Asus will pre-install Windows 7 for Eee PC notebooks in 2009, including a touch screen version.

Since no company really owns the Linux operating system, there is no promotion for Linux notebooks. Therefore, when Microsoft released Windows 7, Linux notebooks will face an unprecedented dilemma, just like the difficulties faced by Lotus 1-2-3, WordPerfect and Harvard Graphics.

Although Microsoft has a "killer instinct" in the operating system market, analysts point out that sales of Linux notebooks will not be stagnant. In the first year of Windows 7 launch, there is no doubt that the Linux market share has dropped. But from now until the release of Windows 7, the sales of Linux notebooks will reach a peak.