Computerworld's Preston Gralla has dedicated a series of recent blog posts to the question of whether Windows 7 could be "Microsoft's Linux killer."

"At the recent PDC, where Windows 7 was unveiled, Windows and Windows Live senior vice president Steve Sinofsky claimed that Windows 7 used less than half of the 1 GB of RAM on his Lenovo S10 netbook," Gralla wrote on October 31st. "Making the new operating system lightweight has clearly been Microsoft's goal."

On November 3rd, Gralla added, "ASUS CEO Jerry Shen says he plans to release versions of the Eee PC powered by Windows 7 in mid 2009, including touchscreen models. With sales figures showing that Windows netbooks already far outsell their Linux counterparts, this could be the nail in the coffin."

The next day, Gralla gave one more reason: "The return rate for Linux netbooks is at least four times as high for Linux machines as it is for XP ones for at least one netbook maker [MSI]... The reason? People find Linux too hard to use."

And today, Gralla looked at why Microsoft is pushing so hard. "Microsoft isn't just worried about ceding 30 percent of the netbook market to Linux," he wrote. "It's also worried that if people get used to Linux on netbooks, they'll consider buying Linux on desktop PCs... Microsoft sees Linux on netbooks not just as a niche market, but as a threat to Microsoft's desktop share as well."

For some other perspectives, check out these articles from The Guardian, PC Magazine, Bloomberg, and Datamation.