That's one nightmare scenario that both Intel and Microsoft tried to avoid when it sought to co-opt the rising netbook phenomenon, but on their own terms.
On the one hand, they have succeeded beyond expectations. Intel's low-energy, low-cost Atom N270 processor is being used in all but a handful of netbooks today. And despite Linux's early lead, Windows XP now shipson the vast majority of netbooks today.
But Microsoft and Intel's attempts to limit the specs of netbooks have met with far less success.
For instance, OEMs wanting to build Atom netbooks had to limit their screen sizes to 10 inches or less, and to 1GB of memory maximum.
Meanwhile, Microsoft said it would license Windows XP Home until mid-2010 only for machines it called ultra-low-cost PCs (ULCPC), which could have no greater than 1GHz processors, 1GB of RAM, 80GB of storage and 10-inch screens. Both Intel and Microsoft wanted to protect sales of its higher-end products. In Intel's case, this was higher-priced mobile CPUs, such as its Core 2 Duo processor, which at one point last year cost 10 to 20 times more than Atom. Similarly, the price to license Windows Vista is far higher than XP.
In Intel's case, the chipmaker was also genuinely worried that end users would be disappointed by netbooks that aimed too high, said Solis. "It [the netbook] has got Intel's name on it, after all."
Mixed messages?
Intel appears to have relaxed its attempts to control how netbooks are made.
"The guidelines are still in place. Those are our recommendations, but OEMs may decide to do something differently," an Intel spokeswoman said.
A bigger question for OEMs: If they built netbooks outside of Intel's "recommended" limits, would they still buy them directly and cheaply from Intel? "OEMs ultimately choose to make their designs however they wish, and yes, they can still buy from us," the spokeswoman said.