One interesting consequence is that the hardware prices of these machines are so low that the typical licensing costs of Microsoft Windows start to loom large. Furthermore, the hardware power is too modest to run Microsoft's latest Windows version, Windows Vista. And thirdly, the uses of these machines are such that ability to run all the same software applications that might be found on users' existing machines is not of such great importance. These three characteristics mean that offering Linux preinstalled instead of Windows becomes an attractive proposition to the hardware vendors. 

  

 The precise name for this market category varies somewhat. Intel talks about "nettops" (low-cost desktops) and "netbooks" (low-cost laptops); Microsoft has used the term "ULCPC" ("Ultra-Low-Cost PC"). HP refers to "Mini-Notes" or "mini-notebooks". It should certainly not be confused with the "UMPC" ("Ultra-Mobile PC"), which was a high-cost category of machines that received only disappointing sales in spite of promotion by Microsoft over several years.