Follow us on TwitterThere has been a lot of interest in Moblin over the last few weeks. Xandros, Linpus, and Canonical have all announced that they are working on a Moblin distribution.
This week the developers behind Moblin have announced plans to enable Google Android applications to run on Moblin.
Giving Google Android applications the ability to run on Moblin will open up the Android app store to netbooks. This will allow netbook users the ability to download and purchase Android Applications.
With the growing interest in Moblin and Android, it will be interesting to see how much of the netbook market is taken away from Microsoft.
I agree that Android apps are going to be a big hit on smart phones. They will make Android-based phones as exciting as (and maybe more exciting than) iPhones.
If we extend that logic to smartbooks, which are like oversized-smartphones or undersized-netbooks, Android apps will be attractive as well.
But I’m thinking that a netbook is a PC. People will want to run PC applications on a netbook. They won’t be able to run their favorite apps on Moblin or Android.
So until Windows apps can run simply and effectively in Linux – or until replacement Linux apps are available – or something new and better (Moblin/Android?) changes the value equation, I believe that most buyers will choose a Microsoft Windows-based netbook.