##CONTINUE##
As recently as September, 2008, Microsoft issued a memo to its Top 20 OEMs telling them what they could and could not have in a netbook computer that ran Windows XP and Windows Vista Basic. These unwritten contracts limit OEMs far beyond the technological limits of the device, the state of the art, the technology, or even what the market itself is demanding.
It’s these “implied contracts” between Microsoft and the OEMs which limit the hardware abilities you and I see in netbooks. And this practice ultimately harms us (the end consumers).
According to this DigiTimes article entitled Intel GN40 netbooks held back by Windows XP, which relates to the netbooks discussed in the first paragraph above, “Intel said that the decision to adopt Windows Vista or XP on Intel netbook platforms is made solely by vendors in accordance with their business plans.” What the article fails to mention is that the “business plans” often include what are called “soft limitations” imposed by Microsoft.
For example, Microsoft may not want Windows XP to appear on certain powerful machines, as a result they send out memos limiting what OS the OEMs can sell the netbook with. While the OEMs can still make and sell the netbooks, they just won’t be able to sell them with Windows operating systems and will, instead, have to install Linux or some other OS, which of course will limit their sales audience as many consumers won’t buy products without a Windows OS. Microsoft knows this, and they are using it to their money advantage.
In circumstances like these, there is no physical limitation as to why the OS can’t come pre-loaded on a netbook. It is only a control mechanism to protect Microsoft’s business plan, cash stream and revenue projections. OEMs are more than capable of creating hardware in netbooks today which would rival the highest-end desktops of just a few years ago, and yet such power is not allowed because these “soft limitations” exist. And it’s the consumers who ultimately pay the price, not in money, but through a slower roll-out of features, reduced functionality, limited equipment options, and all because a company desires to make more money or protect its finances.
I can’t stress strongly enough how much this business practice bothers me. I have been pushing Ubuntu Linux for nearly two years now because of these kinds of business practices. It is graphical in appearance, and out-of-the-box operates like Windows with graphics, a mouse, clicks, right-clicks, etc. It runs OpenOffice, Java, Firefox, comes with a built-in email client, and has a wide hardware support base which will allow most every feature of desktop PCs, notebooks and netbooks to be utilized.
I don’t want to turn this article into a sales pitch for Ubuntu, but I do want people to realize that Microsoft’s practices are not doing consumers any good. And we, the consumer base, have the power to send them a message. We can stop buying their products until they relax such restrictions. After all, it is we that have the power. We can vote a company into the number one slot, or out of business, with our dollars and our purchases.
I advise everyone to consider the harm Microsoft is causing the world with their OS business practices. Consider trying Ubuntu also. It has the ability to boot directly from the CD (without installation) so you can take it for a test drive (get it here). The new Ubuntu version will be released tomorrow (read Geek.com’s coverage here), and it offers several enhancements over the 8.04 and 8.10 current versions.
Remember, when we go out to buy equipment we must not only look at what is being offered to us, but deeper than that. We must consider what is possible and why it is we only have whatever it is we have offered to us for sale. Also, be sure to communicate your reasons for not buying a particular brand to that company so they can know directly that you were there in the store, money in hand, and passed over their product because it did not offer some feature that another one did. Doing this will only increase the product offerings all of us see, and it will ultimately remove all hardware barriers so that whatever is technologically possible, will be possible also in the marketplace without “soft limitations”.
-----------------------------BY Rick Hodgin
Source：geek.com
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