First-order effects

• The immediate proof point: Android boots on commodity netbook hardware like the EEEPC with minimal effort, meaning ODMs and OEMs already shipping Eee-class devices face near-zero technical barriers to offering an Android SKU.
• For Google, a working netbook port turns Android from a phone-only bet into a multi-device platform — extending its search-and-ads reach to a second screen category at essentially no licensing cost.

Second-order effects

• Microsoft, whose Windows XP licenses are a real cost line on $300 netbooks, faces pressure from a free rival on exactly the hardware where its margins are thinnest — expect aggressive XP pricing and bundling responses through 2009–2010.
• Linux netbook distributions, which briefly owned this niche, get squeezed from both sides: less polished than Windows, now outgunned on developer mindshare and app ecosystem by Android.

Third-order effects

• If the pattern holds, the operating system market decouples from device categories: one free, ad-subsidized OS spanning phones and laptops forces incumbents to compete on ecosystem rather than per-license revenue, reshaping how PC makers choose software partners.
• A credible Android netbook wave also signals Google's structural play — owning the OS layer wherever users go online, monetizing through services and ads instead of selling software, which would redraw the boundary between the PC and mobile industries.