The past couple of weeks saw a flurry or articles debating the future of Linux on netbooks. Stephen Lim, the General Manager of Taiwan based Linpus Technologies, made the surprising prediction that Linux will regain 50% market share from Windows on netbooks by next year.

Microsoft's newest operating system Windows 7 will leave much of the burgeoning netbook market open for Linux because of its relatively large footprint.

Linux desktop distribution vendor Xandros and Web content management firm Viyya Technologies have announced they will jointly market integrated, Linux-based software for "netbook" and Mobile Internet Device (MID) devices. Meanwhile, Xandros has strengthened its collaboration with Microsoft on its mixed-environment BridgeWays management tools.

When it launched the netbook phenomenon a couple of years ago, the most noticeable thing about the Asus EEE PC, apart from its size, was that it typically ran Linux. Suddenly everyone was predicting the demise of Windows and the rise of Linux.

The Windows share of the US netbook market is a staggering 96 percent. That's up from less than 10 percent of US unit sales during the first half of 2008 when the words netbook and Linux pretty much ran together. Now it seems that the netbook revolution is leaving Linux behind. Is Linux a Dead Man Walking?

When the netbook first arrived onto the market at the backend of 2007, it came riding with Linux in the saddle. Now 18 months on and Linux-preinstalled netbooks are as rare as hen’s teeth. But which operating system is really the better option?

There was a time when I thought the Linux desktop was going to take a market share at least equal to Apple’s. Maybe even 5% or 10% of the total desktop market. I had high hopes that the One Laptop Per Child Initiative would put Linux laptops in the hands of impressionable young minds who would never have the chance to become dependent on Windows. Though that plan has fallen through the cracks.

For a brief time in 2008, the Linux desktop actually owned a segment of the desktop industry: netbooks. That was then. ARM-based netbooks, however, are on their way and, since these systems can't run Windows, Linux has the potential market all to itself.

"Linux went from 1.25 percent in May of 2007 to 2.02 percent in March of 2008. That is 61.6 percent increase in market share in nine months."