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

A general rule of marketing is "The more noise they make, the less they have to crow about." Who makes the most noise about "innovation"? I bet you can guess....

Will you be moving to Windows 7 during the next year, or will Vista disappointment, economic doom and gloom or compatibility concerns keep you away like 84 percent of business folks surveyed have said?

In a couple of weeks I’ll be switching my main computer back to Ubuntu from Windows 7. But the reason isn’t exasperation with Windows 7, and it’s not one that should give Mac fans hoping that the new Microsoft OS will be a failure any kind of comfort.

Microsoft might be betting big on Windows 7, the next version of its flagship operating system, but to Ubuntu Linux founder Mark Shuttleworth, the upcoming release is really an opportunity for Linux to shine.

In this episode: We celebrate the release of Gnome 2.26 and talk about the Chromium browser. Could the Linux community have done more to capitalise on the weak take-up of Windows Vista, and how can we prepare ourselves for Windows 7? And is it a good thing to have two competing desktop environments?

I've been writing a series of blogs explaining that Linux has reason to fear Windows 7, because it may kill Linux's market share. But there's also plenty of reason for Microsoft to fear Linux, which is why Microsoft is looking to Windows 7 as a Linux-killer.

It's inevitable. With Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s showcasing of Windows 7's pre-beta edition at PDC, the Boys From Redmond have thrown down a gauntlet to the Linux community that's been angling to take over the netbook market (and then maybe the desktop). Anything you can do, they say, we can do better.