At long last the long awaited Windows 7 operating system has been unleashed. People all over the US have spent the night at retail stores waiting to be the first ones to snap up their copies. If you’re a netbook user, you way be wondering:

Is Windows 7 netbook friendly?

Yes it seems to be so far. Microsoft is not blind to the success of netbooks and knows that netbook users now account for a large number of computer users. The only problem though is that without a DVD drive, most netbooks will have trouble loading the new operating system.

Is this a trick from Microsoft to let netbook users out in the cold?

Nah…

You can apparently get Windows 7 via straight Internet download. At the time, I read about this, the link seemed down but keep checking it out and let us know how it turns out for you.

Who has Windows 7 for netbooks already working? How does it fare? Would you recommend it? Is the difference between XP and 7 like night and day? Come on, spill the beans already! [Microsoft allows Windows 7 via USB]

Microsoft has just insured that it does not lose the netbook OS battle by confirming to CNET UK that it will offer a Windows 7 netbook edition. Netbooks have come out of nowhere to become heavily used computers but their low processing power require a minimal operating system. XP has been the choice so far beating Linux senseless and there a lot of players wanting in including Google (a few days ago, some people successfully ran Android on a netbook).

To learn more about the Windows 7 netbook edition, see: Confirmed: Windows 7 ‘netbook edition’

Update: What’s going on? I think we were either fed the wrong information or someone is backing away from original claims. See: Microsoft: We haven’t announced a netbook version of Windows 7

Update 2: Laptop Mag was able to load Windows 7 on a Samsung NC10 netbook. See: Windows 7 Beta Runs on Samsung NC10 for how it turned out.

The eye-catching piece of news this morning is that netbooks preloaded with Windows are outselling, sorry killing, those with Linux. That’s according to Asus (and later on by Acer and Toshiba: 90% of netbooks sold use Windows XP say Acer & Toshiba). See: Asus confirms Linux netbooks market decline

My reaction to this is that it’s pretty normal given the fact that early netbooks were only used by so called geeks who were comfortable with complex Linux as opposed to friendlier Linux OS à la Ubuntu Remix. The mainstream tried its teeth at Linux and failed returning the netbooks en masse. Another good reason is simply that most users are familiar with Windows anyway so naturally, they will gravitate towards it. After all, when laptops became the rage, Linux did not take over then either.

But with the rise of cloud operating systems, Windows should enjoy the top spot while it lasts because ultimetly, netbooks will run on something completely new and different.

For fun, read a prediction that now seems improbable: Will Netbooks Destroy Microsoft in 2009?  or better yet 100 Million Netbooks to Be Sold in 2009?

I personally think that Google would have been better off getting into the laptop and netbook markets instead of the smartphone one. But I don’t blame them. Before less than a year ago, no one ever thought that the netbook era would arrive in full force. So everyone is trying to figure out how the netbook will play out and is jumping into the boat because it’s better to do so now even if it’s an unknown territory than to jump in later when everyone has a market strong hold.

Microsoft launched in the U.S. this week its online software store and is touting it as one way for netbook PC users who don’t have optical drives to more easily obtain software. - Microsoft touts new online store as a netbook complement

Netbooks’ operating systems may be eating through MS profits but it’s sure is not losing any opportunities to make some side cash.