To illustrate the point, Guggenheimer pointed to the evolution of small notebook PCs (often referred to as netbooks), the ensuing emergence of a new class of “consumer Internet devices,” and Microsoft’s collaboration with “smart” appliance maker Fugoo LLC, which was first announced at CES in January.

“It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since we first started to see small notebook PCs running Windows come to market,” he said. “At that time, less than 10 per cent of these devices were powered by Windows; now nearly 90 per cent worldwide are Windows-based.”

The broad adoption, Guggenheimer says, shows that small notebooks are answering a market need, especially given the economic situation. It also reflects that they have evolved a great deal in a short time to become powerful PCs as opposed to the basic Web-surfing tools they were initially.