It's a figure of speech. When you refer to X as a "Y killer", what you are really saying is "the market has concluded that Y is a better product than X, and the guys who make X really want to change that".

It has nothing to do with actual killing. Consumer products rarely get killed. [1] Most of them never live in the first place. The others go out with a whimper. They get gradually shuffled to the back of the shelf and are eventually thrown away in disgust. [2]

What this article is really claiming is that Linux is now the OS to beat in the netbook market and that Microsoft is showing signs of recognizing this and trying to catch up. Of course, this is just a pundit's opinion at this point, not Microsoft's stated position. If you ever hear a Microsoft rep describe a future Microsoft product as a "Linux killer" it will be a big moment. That's as close as a marketer is likely to come to saying "we know you think our current product sucks".

---

[1] As some have pointed out, the only company that routinely manages to literally kill successful products is Apple... which kills its own products by removing them from the market and replacing them with new models. E.g.: the iPod Mini.

[2] Or eBayed, which is the recycling-conscious penny-pincher's method for throwing something away.

It means X is really strong.

I feel good about Linux right now.

Oh man, this is great.

NeWS didn't kill X11 and DPDF won't either!

Maybe the world would be a better place if it had... ;)

remember: we're gonna fuckin' kill google.

and the fuckin' ipod, too, by the way.

Ballmer: just shut the fuck up.