Microsoft executive says netbook prospects encouraging
Market trends bode well for Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system in the burgeoning market for software used in pared-down "netbook" computers, according to a company executive speaking at an investor conference Thursday.
Asked about the emergence of competition in software used to power netbooks from the likes of Google Inc. and others, Microsoft (MSFT 20.42, -0.03, -0.15%) finance chief for the Windows business division, Tami Reller, told an audience at the Cowen & Co. Technology Media & Telecom Conference that the software giant remains confident.
"We don't dismiss competition, that's how we've grown," Reller said, though she added that there is "amazing, consumer-driven demand for Windows." She cited studies showing that Windows has quickly come to dominate the still-nascent netbook market.
