NPD: Windows in 96% of netbooks

Use of Windows in netbooks has exploded over the last year, jumping almost tenfold in terms of market share.

The NPD Group, an independent market research firm, says Windows is installed in 96 percent of netbooks as of February 2009, compared to 10 percent at the same time last year. Before Windows took over, Linux-based netbooks were the norm, but now it seems Microsoft has the upper hand in this growing corner of the PC market. In the research, netbooks are defined as PCs with 10.2-inch screens or smaller and a cost of under $500.

Microsoft boasted the results on the Windows Team Blog, where Brandon LeBlanc writes that return rates are also much higher for Linux-based netbooks compared to Windows, at least from manufacturers MSI and Canonical. "Why such a disparity? Because users simply expect the Windows experience," LeBlanc writes. "When they realize their Linux-based netbook PC doesn’t deliver that same quality of experience, they get frustrated and take it back."

That’s a bit of PR Speak, actually. A look at the actual reports to which LeBlanc is referring show that users of the returned PCs likely ordered online expecting something like Windows. When they got something different, they were unwilling to learn and returned the product. Canonical’s Andy Carr actually said he thinks Linux is "a better way but it’s not the same way people are used to."

I imagine this kind of interaction with customers feeds upon itself. As manufacturers suffer greater return rates witih Linux-based models, they’re forced to offer a Windows model to accomodate the masses. The netbook then becomes more attractive to new customers, who see it as a legitimate computing option rather than some strange gadget for accessing the Internet and e-mail.

In settling on a netbook for my new computer, I chose a Windows-based model because I wanted it to function similarly to the full-featured PCs I grew up with. As my primary PC for work and play, I didn’t want to run into software compatibility issues. I suppose I’m part of the trend.