How Microsoft Is Fighting Back (Finally)

It's counterpunching Apple and Linux with a new, audacious pricing strategy and a canny ad campaign

BusinessWeek, April 9, 2009 — For 25 years, Microsoft (MSFT) held unquestioned dominance in the personal computer business. But last year the maker of the Windows operating system started to look like a weary, vulnerable champ. Fueled by iPhone-mania and the iconic "I'm a Mac" TV ads, Apple (AAPL) was nearing a double-digit share of the PC market. At the same time, a new generation of sub-$500 "netbooks" that ran on the free Linux operating system was taking off.

PC makers move closer to a post-Windows world

CNNMoney.com, October 29, 2008 — In January, Hewlett-Packard will introduce a glossy black mini-laptop at retail for a mere $379. When it does, it will become the first major computer maker this decade (besides Apple, of course) to push a non-Windows PC in stores.

Kevin Frost, general manager of consumer notebooks at HP, was quick to point out that HP’s embrace of Linux shouldn’t be interpreted as a slap at Microsoft; he said he expects the “vast majority” of HP’s mini laptop sales to be the Windows version. “But we frankly view the mini category as one where we have the opportunity to put the focus on the HP brand, not the processor and not the operating system.”