Are you suggesting that M$ will give Windows away for free in order to compete
with Linux? They are as much doing that in order to shut Linux out of the
netbook market, but that isn't likely to continue with the next OS. Their
strategy is to give away XP and allow companies to pass on Vista on the promise
that they will buy licenses for Windows 7 under a program from M$ that allows
downgrades and skipping of Vista. Under the program people can buy Vista and run
XP. Recently M$ started allowing enterprise users to skirt Vista altogether. It
seems that upgrades will be allowed from XP without having to buy Vista provided
companies buy Windows 7 licenses.

HP is doing something interesting. They are releasing their mini with a version
of Ubuntu but has their name and look on it. This is a trial balloon as they may
be actively developing their own version of Linux. (Note: their first netbooks
ran SUSE, but the latest one is Ubuntu underneath but there is no mention of
Ubuntu or Linux) Their goal is not overtly obvious, but we can surmise that HP
is to not be held hostage by M$ and have an alternative to Windows, not knowing
where we are headed with cloud computing and whether Windows 7 will be another
dud. In other words, they want to control their own destiny and not be subject
to the whims of the marketplace or another company.. All options are being
explored at HP and elsewhere.

As far as cloud computing goes, there was a recent article in InfoWorld based on
a NYT article that suggested that the future of computing is not the desktop as
we know it, but to have a very slimmed down OS that isinstant on. It mentions
Linux as a leader in this. Embedded OS will come to the desktop if this is true
and the cloud will in effect take over from the OS which will become little more
than a platform to jump to the web. This has not escaped the notice of M$ who
announced details of their own cloud initiative this week which will be on par
with Amazon's. Google will be a major player. Both Amazon's and M$'s is a pay as
you go service. To give this even more credence M$ has released a cloud version
of MS Office that works from the web via subscription. (See also)

If this comes into being, Windows 7 (which also had details released this week
along with screenshots) may not even be on the table. Things are in flux if you
look at the maneuvers of HP and M$ and nobody knows where the cards will fall,
but all opportunities are being explored.

This will not affect Linux which will continue to offer users choice. Mark
Shuttleworth went on the record this week as saying that Linux is and will
always be a money loser, but he is okay with that. Any money to be made is is
selling added services such as support. Servers will be huge if the cloud takes
off and Linux was recently shown running on a mainframe and it is always been a
big player in servers.

We should be okay whichever way things go. If you like the cloud then it will be
available and if you don't then you will have options whether it is from Linux,
Apple or Microsoft. The interesting battle is being fought now. Watch for the
actions of HP, Intel and others re: instant on computers and using non-Microsoft
OSes on their boards and on their equipment. This is a migration away from
Microsoft that is unprecedented and it will be interesting to see how much they
will deviate from the traditional party line both behind the scenes and in their
actions and how Microsoft will react to their heresy.