[LolNoGenerics]

Windows certainly doesn't a good job to run well on lower end systems. It got fast and reliable if you hit a baseline. Still they're hardly a competition for linux if you don't care about gaming.

Hardware retailers are just grabbing cash from average users. You cannot proof how well a system is performing so you just make up numbers and fancy words. Product series merely exists to nudge prices, they guy who buys the cheapest stuff is the biggest looser.

Cosumers would be served better if they used linux on their cheap systems. You only need a browser anyway. I used an early asus Eee PC netbook for some time with ubuntu. Yes it wasn't really snappy but it was on par with what my parents used to use. But more reliable in log term and 3 times cheaper.

But like linus said, linux won't take over the desktop market unless it is widely sold with machines out of the box.