Microsoft is really making a push to get its operating system on sub-notebooks like the Asus EeePC.  I find it funny that they need to remove functionality from the OS so they can make it cheaper for people to buy.  Really what this means is they probably had to remove the bloat to make it less sluggish.

The EeePC with Linux installed is still cheaper than the Windows version.  

We know that Microsoft is looking into how open source and Linux will affect their bottom line and what to do about it.   

"On Tuesday, Microsoft announced that it's extending its management software to Linux and Unix environments by integrating some of the open source OpenPegasus project's code into System Center Operations Manager, and will contribute back." Full Story...

Not only will MS use open source, but they will contribute back.  I wonder just how half-assed this contribution will be.  MS's "contributions" are always such that they can benefit or they do things in such a way as to try to lead the industry where they want it to be.  Just look at the Open Document crap they tried to pull.