Newsletter Archives

• Tablet shipments up 200 percent as netbook demand tanks

  Posted on May 3, 2012 at 17:16 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  The old-line PC manufacturers still think they can outdo the iPad.

  Windows 8 may change things a bit.

  InfoWorld Tech Watch.

  Other netbook

• MSFT sales down 6%, profits down 32%, year-on-year

  Posted on April 24, 2009 at 08:18 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  David Goldman, at CNN Money, puts it this way:

  The company has had a difficult time combating slumping demand for its Windows operating system, as the economic slowdown has dragged PC sales down 7% to 9%, according to Microsoft’s estimates. The recession has also prompted many consumers to opt for cheaper, scaled-down “netbooks” that perform only basic tasks like e-mail and accessing the Internet. They typically run open-source operating systems like Linux, rather than Windows.

  Sorry, but that isn’t true. Most netbooks run Windows XP. Preston Gralla (hi, Pres!), writing on  his ComputerWorld blog says, “A study by the analyst firm NPD Group has found that more than 90% of netbooks sold in November, December, and January shipped with Windows on them. Just as important is that only in December did netbook sales truly take off.”

  Preston’s observation certainly matches what I’ve seen – although I’ve been very impressed by Linux on my Asus Eee 1000H.

  “The trouble for Microsoft is that its cash cow is shifting,” said Carl Howe, analyst with Yankee Group. “PC sales are troubled, and they’re getting hurt by the move to cheaper notebooks.”

  It’s gonna be interesting to see how Windows 7 turns all this around. Er, if Windows 7 turns all of this around. Maybe I’ve swallowed the Kool-Aid, but based on three months of continuous thumping on Windows 7, I’m convinced that it’s the best operating system to come out of Microsoft. Period.

  Uncategorized Microsoft profits, netbook, Windows 7, Windows XP market share

• Windows 7 performance boost due to popularity of Netbooks?

  Posted on March 22, 2009 at 11:24 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Emil Protalinski just posted an insightful piece on Ars Technica that says, in essence, we can attribute the (significant) improvements in Windows 7 performance to Microsoft’s attempts to wean Netbook users away from Windows XP.

  Microsoft is very much aware that it’s not going to make much money offering XP on netbooks forever. So it’s really no surprise that when Microsoft announced the Windows 7 editions last month, it promised that all editions would run on netbooks. To achieve this goal, the company has been tweaking like no tomorrow. It’s never bothered doing that with a new Windows release, at least not to the extent that it is doing with Windows 7.

  You bet your sweet bippy. That’s exactly what happened – and one of the main reasons why this ol’ boy with an admittedly jaundiced eye welcomes Windows 7 with open arms.

  I’ve been running Windows 7 Ultimate on an ASUS EEE PC 1000H netbook for a month now, and it’s slick. It isn’t fast. But it’s fast enough. And compared to that monster “laptop” I used to lug around, it’s positively liberating.

  Windows News netbook, Windows 7 performance