Death of Linux on netbooks greatly exaggerated

From Ars Technica -

The netbook boom obviously offers a golden opportunity for Linux to gain some much-needed traction. Since Vista is just too demanding on netbook hardware, Microsoft has extended Windows XP's life while prepping Windows 7, which is said to be more netbook-friendly than Vista.

On another front, Microsoft blogger Brandon LeBlanc has asserted that his company owns 96% of the netbook market,citing the latest NPD retail tracking reports. He also suggested that high return rates for Linux netbooks are a sign that consumers overwhelmingly prefer Windows.

LeBlanc however conveniently omitted relevant info. The NPD study only counts sales from retail stores and doesn't include Internet purchases, which make up a very significant chunk of computer sales. Moreover, he misleadingly cited Canonical (maker of Ubuntu Linux) in reference to the return rates of MSI units which use Novell's SUSE Linux. The returns were in fact attributed to configuration errors such as not having wegcam and WiFi device drivers.

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Well, well, well. It seems Microsoft, being the new IBM, has also picked up the latter's FUD strategy (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) in dealing with the competition.