What's the point of Windows on netbooks anyway? Last time I checked, OpenOffice.org and Firefox run the same on Linux as they do on Windows. (Oh, the window borders are a different color. I see.)
Ah, another "What's the point" comment, belying a blind ideology which blithely assumes that anyone using a netbook would have no need to run any Windows software such as, say, Office; clear evidence that said commenter does not have a job in the real world where OOo cannot possibly replace MSOffice, due to a massive investment in time and programming $, macros, VB code, and countless formatting and layout problems that OOo would introduce, not to mention the need to interoperate with the rest of the business world, and most home users.
So to be clear, you think the reason that people need Microsoft Windows on netbooks is because Microsoft Office doesn't have a documented and interoperable file format.
I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying this is one of those malice/incompetence things when you should really lean towards malice. Blaming competitors (as it appears you are doing) is just mean, they've generally done a heroic job reverse engineering .doc to the point where they do a better job than Microsoft in some cases.
Me? I run a new Macbook Pro 17 (+ VMWare + Boot Camp + Win 7). But the sub-notebook class is attractive for way more than email. That's the whole point of having a machine that can run Windows. This would be like trying to sell as scooter that was banned from the freeways. Most people are going to pass it over for more practical models.
Scooters are banned from the freeways and they still sell. Not to people that want to drive them on the freeway, but to people that want to use them for their designed purpose.
People want it. I believe the first of the netbooks were Linux. Then Microsoft got around to offering Windows on them, and they promptly took over the market.
