Microsoft Windows on Shaky Ground?

I just finished reading an article in Wired Magazine: "Netbooks Offer a Chance to Challenge Windows' Long Reign', by Priya Ganapati. The article speaks about the new wave of computer devices called "Netbooks" and how that the race to provide an operating system that will work on them may cause a crack in the Microsoft Windows OS armor.

This new breed of notebook has been downsized from it's bigger brothers, and generally sport smaller displays, hard drives and memory. Because of this, Window's operating system (XP & Vista), does not work well, or does not work all together. Windows was designed to run on full featured devices and it cannot scale down to meet the netbook's reduced spec's.

Windows does not appear correctly because of the smaller displays. The Windows' icons designed for larger displays do not fit well and to manipulate the icons with the smaller keyboards becomes tricky. The limitation of RAM and disk size is also a factor when trying to run Windows.

As a result of this new "Netbook" market, software developers are racing to deliver what could be the predecessor to Windows as we know it. JoliCloud and MSI are the leaders in this race to see who can be the dominate the Netbook OS. Who ever wins could be setting the direction until the next evolutionary change takes place. If either one of these vendors were to become dominate were their new operating OS, is preloaded on netbooks, they could have a substantial windfall.

I also read in another article in Macworld Magazine that Apple has insinuated that the iPhone was the first in the future of Web devices for them. Possibly a larger I phone that could serve as an internet device with a larger keyboard?

Well of course Microsoft has not been quite on the subject. They are spreading their FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt)! Microsoft is stating that Windows 7, the next release of Windows, would be optimized to work on the scaled down systems.

Whoever wins this race could be setting the direction of computing in the future. The rewards will be huge if they can pull it off.