[zeugma]

Gee, MicroSoft could your actions have anything to do with this.............

Apple Breaks 20 per cent barrier in the US and ten per cent barrier worldwide

Not really. Apple doesn't really compete in the low-end marketplace that is targeted by this.

I'm not surprised by this move at all, as it is basically an admission that Microsoft has no other way to compete on the low-end (what would have been considered to be fairly powerful machines just a few years ago). Vista is a resource-hungry pig that doesn't fit the needs of many people. The ASUS eeePC is targeting a growing marketplace that microsoft has only now realized they can't just abandon to their competitors. Once consumers realize there is a viable alternative to Windows, Microsoft's cash cow will slowly starve.

[Lockbox]

you're right Microsoft cannot give up the low end, that's the growth market for the third world. Once Microsoft loses that to another operating system, end of ball game.

A billion Chinese with Linus vs 300 million Americans with Windows........

and let's not even talk about the 'free' Windows the Chinese use..