Details are scarce, unless Russian is your language of choice, but CNews is reporting that Russia plans to develop its own national operating system. The move is designed to reduce Russia’s need to rely on foreign software and licensing agreements. And the alleged “open code” solution, likely a Linux/GNU derivative, will give Russia a greater degree of customization, as well as increased control over how the potentially free OS is used and accessed.

This isn’t the first time Russia has dabbled with the idea of widespread open-source software distribution. According to Russia Today, a pilot program is already underway in three Russian regions to replace Microsoft-branded operating systems in Russian schools with Linux alternatives. All Russian schools are expected to make the software switch by 2009, according to Russian leaders.

Expect the national transition to put a large feather in the cap of Linux advocates worldwide. But will it spurn increased U.S. adoption of the open-source OS? The economic crisis might be more fuel for that fire. A “free the penguin” initiative aimed at increasing Linux adoption in U.S. academic institutions signed up more than 3,000 interested schools between September and December of 2008–that’s 20,000 new open-source desktops across 29 separate states.

Microsoft has long been worried about Linux competition in the server market. When it came to ordinary PCs and laptops, however, it knew it had little to fear.

But that was then. Now Microsoft may fear Linux on the desktop as much as it does the Mac. It’s finally taking Linux seriously as a desktop operating system, and it has designed Windows 7 to kill it.

The threat to Windows comes entirely from “netbooks” — lightweight, inexpensive laptops that typically use Intel ‘s low-powered Atom processor and don’t come with substantial amounts of RAM or powerful graphics processors. They’re designed mainly for browsing the Web, handling e-mail, writing memos, and taking care of simple word-processing or spreadsheet chores.

Clearly, the future is in netbooks. And that has Microsoft worried. Netbooks can’t handle Vista’s hardware demands, so XP is the only Microsoft operating system that runs on them. But Linux is ideally suited for lower-powered notebooks.

The result? Acer and Asustek, which account for 90% of the netbook market, are using Linux on about 30% of their low-cost notebooks, according to Bloomberg. Making matters worse, if Linux is used on those netbooks, it means that Microsoft Office isn’t. So Microsoft takes a double hit every time someone buys a Linux netbook.

Microsoft isn’t just worried about ceding 30% of the netbook market to Linux. It’s also worried that if people get used to running Linux on netbooks, they’ll consider buying Linux on desktop PCs as well.

Microsoft, though, has a not-so-secret weapon against Linux: Windows 7. Its new operating system, slated to be introduced sometime next year, is designed to work fine on netbooks. In fact, at Microsoft’s recent Professional Developers Conference, where the pre-beta of Windows 7 was unveiled, Windows Senior Vice President Steve Sinofsky showed off Windows 7 on his Lenovo S10 and said it used less than half of the netbook’s 1GB of RAM.

When Windows 7 ships, expect a massive marketing blitz pushing it on netbooks with special deals, and netbook hardware taking advantage of Windows 7 capabilities, including touch screens.

In fact, the blitz has already begun. Asus CEO Jerry Shen announced that he plans to release versions of the Eee PC powered by Windows 7 in mid-2009, including a touch-screen version.

Despite Microsoft’s killer instincts, I don’t think Linux netbook sales will stop dead. There will always be a niche for them. But within a year of the Windows 7 launch, Linux market share will drop. The high point for Linux netbook sales will be from now until the launch of Windows 7. After that will come the inevitable decline.