After that will come the slow but inevitable decline.
Between now and the launch of Windows 7 will be the high point for Linux netbook sales. This is where the functions come in to play. For financial data to be useful, you have to make some calculations. Storing a bunch of data in a 1-2-3 spreadsheet is only the first step. Adding, multiplying, and more using 1-2-3 functions. But within a year of the launch of Windows 7, their sales will have fallen significantly. The 1-2-3 Column: Using Formulas in a Lotus Spreadsheet. There will always be a niche for Linux netbooks.
I don't expect Linux netbook sales to disappear. The inevitable will happen as it did with 1-2-3, WordPerfect, and all the others - over time, Linux netbook sales will decline, and Windows 7 netbook sales will soar. When Windows 7 hits, Microsoft will spend enormous amounts of money promoting Windows 7 netbooks, and probably ensure that Windows 7 netbooks have capabilities that Linux ones don't.īecause no company owns Linux, there will be no competing marketing for Linux netbooks. ASUS has already announced Windows 7 versions, including one with a touchscreen. It's lightweight enough to run on netbooks, and will have touchscreen capabilities, which is ideal for netbooks because their keyboards are so small. Second is that if people get used to Linux on netbooks, they may consider buying Linux-based desktops.īecause of that, it designed Windows 7 to be a Linux-killer. First is that the netbook market is growing dramatically. And that's what I believe it will ultimately do with netbooks.Īs I've written previously, Microsoft is worried about Linux's approximately 30 percent market share of netbook sales for two reasons. And once upon a time, Netscape was the browser that everyone used.Īs all that makes clear, Microsoft may not be the world's greatest innovator but it is brilliant at targeting existing or rising markets, and ultimately dominating them. Harvard Graphics was once the dominant presentation program. WordPerfect was once the dominant word processor. Lotus hasn't been the only victim of Microsoft coming to a market late, then ultimately monopolizing it. Windows 3.0 came along, Excel began outselling 1-2-3, and Microsoft delivered the coup de grace when Excel was folded into Microsoft Office. And when it did create one, 1-2-3 didn't take advantage of the Windows GUI. Lotus ignored Windows and didn't bother to create a Windows-based version. People forget Windows 2, but Microsoft released Excel for Windows 2.05, not long after it released a version for the Mac. So what happened? How did Excel become completely dominant, while Lotus 1-2-3 lost its entire market?įirst, Windows happened. If you told anyone at the time that Microsoft would one day own the world's best-selling spreadsheet, and Lotus 1-2-3 be used by fewer people than live in Wasilla, Alaska, they would have most likely asked whether you had forgotten to take your medication that day.