Attitudes to Linux is one of the great dividing lines between technical and mainstream users. From what I read from Linux enthusiasts it is fantastic and Windows is terrible by comparison.
Now for programmers, using Linux to build out a back end is doubtless as fantastic as they say. I have no idea since I will never do this but for users trying to install a front end Linux is terrible. My only experience is with installing Ubuntu on an old laptop only to rip it out moments later. The problem was I couldn’t get anything to work, the wireless didn’t work, printer drivers didn’t work. Nothing. This may be down to my technical incompetence but Windows XP is much more usable. I have never used Vista, now having switched to Leopard.
The Ubuntu UI wasn’t too bad and I’m sure if it or some other Linux distribution had come pre-installed like on the Asus I would be fine with it. With more and more of my applications migrating to the browser I don’t really care about using Word or Excel when Open Office can open documents adequately enough. I think I’d probably have to keep a machine capable of running MS Office somewhere but my reliance on those programs is waning fast.
People are already starting to speculate about what is in Windows 7 but I think the Andreessen prophecy about the OS migrating to the web is finally coming true. About a decade too late to save Netscape but there you go.
This could be Linux’s time. If someone can reliably put out a stripped down, good looking Linux OS then the time could come when Windows finally has a worthy competitor. MS is scrambling to get into the UMPC market perhaps realising that simpler operating systems which can fit on smaller machines are the way of the future. This makes Microsoft far more vulnerable to a nimble competitor as its advantage lies in having thousands of programmers making an ever more complicated OS for ever more powerful machines.
If machines start getting simpler and less powerful because more is migrating to the web where does that leave MS? Turning round the super tanker takes a long time. Getting into the console market with the Xbox was a clever move to diversify but making up all the lost revenues from its core business will be a hard task.
Ok where to start… For starters how long ago did you install ubuntu? Also installing it on a dinosaur laptop isnt a real test. I’m not sure how you can possibly think that people are moving toward web OSs. That is never going to happen becasue it is too easy to get hacked into.
I installed Ubuntu about a year ago but I’m dying to give Linux another crack which is why I’m tempted to try an Asus.
When I say web OS what I’m getting at is the tendency for people doing increasing amounts through the browser. The canary in the mine was Outlook and I can forsee problems for MS as web apps pick off more and more from the desktop. This is not to say Operating Systems are dead but that they are getting simpler and lighter which is to the advantage of Linux over MS. This is what makes me think it could finally break out into the mainstream of individual users.
[...] at the basic requirements needed to run it and sticking with XP. I’ve said before I think the future lies in much lighter operating systems. MS really needs to forget about building an even bulkier Windows 7, throw out the entire code base [...]
[...] post I must confess a conflict, Arrington style. I own a Mac Pro. It is beautiful and powerful. In earlier posts I have said that the market for heavier Operating Systems which run big applications locally is [...]
[...] I’ve pussyfooted around the issue without ever writing a post dedicated to Asus. So here it is. Gizmodo reports that the Asus Eee PC [...]
[...] is making strides in the mobile market is something Microsoft needs to do something about soon. I’ve said before I think this is the right time for Linux to break out into mainstream use and I see more and more [...]
[...] more: On Linux On Ubuntu On breaking up [...]
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation
Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Martha