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Microsoft and the great netbook price-fixing scam of 2009
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is colluding with netbook hardware vendors to deny customer choice
| and protect profits
|
| [...]
|
| Now we're hearing that Microsoft is about to weigh in on the matter. The
| company already muddied the netbook hardware waters when it set forth its
| byzantine "maximum hardware requirements" for netbooks running Windows XP
| Home. And with Windows 7 just around the corner, the company is reportedly
| preparing an updated set of parameters. In a nutshell, the acceptable netbook
| screen size is decreasing (from 12.1 inches to 10.2 inches), the acceptable
| storage capacity is increasing (from a 32GB solid-state drive or 160GB hard
| disk drive to 64GB SSD/250GB HDD), and restrictions on touch and other
| Windows 7-centric features are being lifted.
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http://www.infoworld.com/d/windows/microsoft-and-great-netbook-price-fixing-scam-2009-520
Related:
Microsoft to limit capabilities of cheap laptops
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft plans to offer PC makers steep discounts on Windows XP Home Edition
| to encourage them to use that OS instead of Linux on ultra low-cost PCs
| (ULPCs). To be eligible, however, the PC vendors that make ULPCs must limit
| screen sizes to 10.2 inches and hard drives to 80G bytes, and they cannot
| offer touch-screen PCs.
|
| The program is outlined in confidential documents that Microsoft sent to PC
| makers last month, and which were obtained by IDG News Service. The goal
| apparently is to limit the hardware capabilities of ULPCs so that they don't
| eat into the market for mainstream PCs running Windows Vista, something both
| Microsoft and the PC vendors would want to avoid.
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft notes that the OSes under consideration for the devices include
| Windows and Linux. Some PC makers have expressed a preference for Linux
| because it helps them keep down the cost of the devices.
|
| [...]
|
| By offering Windows XP Home Edition at bargain prices, Microsoft hopes to
| secure its place in the ULPC market and reduce the use of Linux, according to
| an official at one PC maker, who asked not to be identified because he was
| not authorized to discuss the program.
|
| "[Low-cost PC makers] have made some good inroads with open-source, and
| Microsoft wants to put a stop to it," the official said.
|
| The official did not seem opposed to the program. It should stimulate more
| competition between Windows and Linux in the ULPC market, and it could
| invigorate sales because consumers who want an easy-to-use PC are likely to
| prefer Windows, the official said.
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http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=D04AB1F8-17A4-0F78-310F5F4479DEEE86
More evidence of Microsoft "tying up" the Asus EeePC
,----[ Quote ]
| Then, one of the makers of Netbooks will release a fantastic product using
| the paid Ubuntu/Netbook Remix, which will make us all forget about the EeePC
| — or, maybe we’ll remember it as one of the makers which used GNU/Linux in
| order to launch a product, and then gave in to Microsoft’s pressure.
|
| The real question is: will the next maker manage to resist Microsoft’s
| pressure? Or will everybody end up closely tied up with Microsoft?
`----
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/more_evidence_microsoft_tying_up_the_asus_eeepc
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