Microsoft to Limit Features of Low-cost Laptops; Is Microsoft Losing to Linux in the market?

Few days ago, a news item came to web that Microsoft is encouraging laptop makers to use more Windows XP OS for their low-cost laptops than Linux free OS by giving discount on Win XP home edition. But rest of the news explains that meanwhile, Microsoft has put some boundaries for laptop makers if they try to use Win XP on their low-cost laptops!

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Computerworld reports:

However, the PC vendors that make ULPCs must limit screen sizes to 10.2 inches and hard drives to 80G bytes, and they cannot offer touch-screen PCs….Microsoft's program appears designed to ensure that distinction is maintained and to prevent ULPCs from cannibalizing sales of higher-end systems…

Microsoft plans to charge PC makers US$26 for Windows XP Home Edition for ULPCs sold in emerging markets such as China and India, and $32 for those sold in developed markets, the documents show. PC makers who are eligible for its Market Development Agreement, however, can get a discount of as much as $10 off those prices, the documents say.

That's where the hardware limits come in. Besides limits on the screens and hard drives, to be eligible, the systems can have no more than 1G byte of RAM and a single-core processor running at no more than 1GHz. The program makes an allowance for some chips, including Via Technologies' C7-M processors, which run between 1.0GHz and 1.6GHz, and Intel's upcoming Atom N270.

As you See, from one side Microsoft is offering Windows XP in a very cheap price for low-cost laptops and UMPC devices to fight with its rival Linux free OS and from the other side, Microsoft puts lots of terms and limitations for this category because it is trying to push up the Vista Sale in the market.

Apparently, Microsoft is following very good strategy in the market but these terms and limitations will become a very big weak point for Microsoft if the low-cost laptop aficionados increase their demand over these limitations like to have low-cost or cheap laptops with 11" screen or 10" low-cost laptop with more storage, or faster processors etc.

As you know each year in hardware field new products come out and the price of previous models decreases some. So, it is not impossible to see soon the low-cost laptops with much better features while keeping the same prices of $400 or $500.

Reality is that the dream of every consumer is one day it can have a cheap or budget laptop with high-end features or at least with good features. Because of this desire Some of Dell’s budget laptop could become very popular since they came out to market like Inspiron 1525, Vostro 1000, Vostro 1400, Vostro 1500, Vostro 1510, Inspiron 1420 and so on.

If it happens, surely Linux can overtake Microsoft very easily in the market segment of UMPC devices and low-cost laptops.