Oh it was Microsoft!

One thing I didn't understand for a long time about the new netbooks that are all the rage: Why do they all come with only 1GB of RAM? The screens have gotten better on new models over the past several months. The hard drives have gotten bigger. Intel just released a faster processor that many manufacturers plan to include in new models. Prices have dropped. In short, netbooks have been obeying Moore's law. Except when it comes to RAM. The machine all seem capped at 1GB of RAM. For $20 to $50 they could add a gig or two of RAM and improve performance so much. What's holding them back?

And then I found the answer: Microsoft. The Evil Empire refuses to sell Windows XP to anyone under 21 on any machine that meets certain specs. If you're powerful enough to run the bloated ugly OS (Vista) you have to use it. So manufacturers keep the machines below the limits in order to license XP.

And that's not all. The Evil Empire has also bullied HP and others into pulling their Linux-based netbooks.