Windows 7 changes the future of netbooks

The news of netbooks has essentially been unchanged for quite some time.

The story of netbooks, similarly, has been rather invariant.

Netbooks entered the market as extremely low-priced alternatives to normal laptops. They sported small screens, processors that required very little power — and, in turn, provided very little power — and, out of necessity, ran ultra-efficient Linux-based operating systems.

Windows was an innovation on some netbooks as the processors became more powerful and could handle the more power-hungry calculations of a Windows platform.

Microsoft could breathe easier as they did what they do best — take over a technology and plant a large Windows flag prominently on top.

Major manufacturers like Dell and Hewlett-Packard now offer netbooks that are weaker and include attractively colored case designs and run the ever-friendly Microsoft Windows, a favorite of most computer users.

The storied “Wintel” conspiracy seemed to flourish as most netbooks utilized the low-cost, simple and low-powered Intel Atom processors, coupled with Windows XP Home Edition.

Trouble is brewing however — mostly from the frequent denunciations of Windows XP coming from Microsoft.

Microsoft, a company that ultimately wants to put people into the mindset that Windows XP is obsolete — and thus cause them to upgrade at considerable expense — now promises netbooks that run Windows 7.

Windows 7 has not completely entered the market yet, but Microsoft seems confident that it will replace Windows XP as the next netbook operating system of choice.

Because it is a Windows platform and therefore compatible with around 95 percent of the computer-buying public, Windows 7 may very well take over the netbook arena and prevent the original Linux netbooks from developing further market share.

The original concept behind netbooks might be lost as a result. Although Microsoft Windows can run on the cut-down, low-cost netbook machines, the demands of Windows commonly require the netbooks to sport faster and more expensive Atom processors than would be required for comparable Linux machines.

This requirement plus the licensing costs to put Windows on a machine raises the cost of the average Windows netbooks when compared with its Linux brethren.

The original EEPC, which ran a Linux distribution, comfortably used 512 MB. When Windows XP was added into the mix with a recommendation that the machines include 1 GB of memory, it added to the cost. An extra $30 is currently added to the Dell Mini 10’s price tag for Windows licensing fees, for example.

The formerly low price of the netbook became inflated and significantly closed the gap between netbooks and the cheap full-sized laptops that run Pentium Dual-Core processors.

A recent article in ComputerWorld written by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, the “Cyber Cynic,” presented an alternative to a scenario of Microsoft’s continued domination in yet another arena of computer production.

Vaughan-Nichols describes the rise of the ARM processor into the netbook arena. ARM processors may be more familiar to the average electronics user than is immediately apparent.

Do you have an iPhone? It is running an ARM. Do you have a generic cell phone? More than likely, it is running an ARM.

Like most processors, ARMs can be manufactured to various specifications. The higher-end ARMs, according to Vaughan-Nichols, can compete with the best of the Atoms currently used in netbooks.

So why would the ARM replacing the Atom be a good thing for those who think Microsoft is becoming a tad too cocky with its Windows 7 netbook plans?

ARM’s instruction set — the list of machine instructions that an ARM processor can understand — is starkly different from the x86 and x86-64 architectures the Intel Atom utilizes.

Therefore, Microsoft Windows XP cannot be run on an ARM processor. Linux, however, has been compiled and tested for ARM processors.

ARMs can also be significantly cheaper. Vaughan-Nichols describes a world in the future of ARM netbooks where the original draw of the netbook — a lack of crushing expense — can become a reality.

Vaughan-Nichols predicts netbooks that run Linux with ARM processors will be sold successfully under $200.

Are the days of Microsoft’s involvement in the netbook world numbered? Probably not. What is more likely is that another break will occur with netbooks. Perhaps “super netbooks” will be developed that can undercut those haughty, “expensive,” Windows XP netbooks.

Or maybe everyone will just get angry and buy iPhones.