Nerdlets

This post describes an interesting development over at Redmond.

The new trend among tech-nerds are low-end computers (recently dubbed “netbooks”). The specifications may be “soooo 2006,” but laptop builders can make them super small, super efficient (all-day battery life), and super slick. Pack it full of extras like bluetooth support, wireless internet, and solid-state drives that don’t blink when you bounce them, and you have a fully-functional computer that can go anywhere you do. Oh, and they’re about half the price of a “normal” laptop. These work perfectly in a Web 2.0 world, a world in which most of your data is online anyway, and all you need is a internet connection to access and manipulate it. (If you’re in the market, check out these).

These low-end laptops have Microsoft a little nervous. Why? Because they’re increasingly popular but not really powerful enough to run something as bloated as Vista, and Microsoft wants to discontinue XP. The solution most computer manufacturers (the best for these little comps are Asus, Dell, and HP) have come up with is to use Linux. That makes me happy, since I love Linux, but it makes Microsoft sad.

So the release of a low-level OS designed to interface with webapps is a good move for Microsoft, though it might be too little too late.

There are other opinions about the future of Web 2.0 and cloud computing, however. Check them out here and here.

Related posts:

1. Another Online Storage Service, from Microsoft
2. Microsoft Office at 90% Off
3. Microsoft’s Latest Internet Explorer Shaping up to be Not Evil
4. How to Type in Greek Part II: Setting Up the Microsoft Greek Polytonic Keyboard
5. A Great Wireless Card for Linux