Comments on: Will Linux ever hit the mainstream?

By: samus

samus — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:41:53 +0000

It’s simple – if it comes pre-installed on units that sell peripherals will support it.

By: Habaday11

Habaday11 — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:54:10 +0000

The death of Windows is of course inevitable now, and with it will go the customer ‘lock-in’ that Microsoft have (often illegally) used to strangled the market. To blame comsumer demand is simply untrue. What happens is MIcrosoft traditionally respond to competition by threatening retailers with price-hikes if they stock competing products. No customer choice involved. It’s really up to the manufactures themselves to give the consumer a choice.
Notice there is no mention by the M$washed ‘reviewer’ of Google Chrome which is exactly what customers need. Expect M$ to spend millions spreading mis-informnation and threatening developers and retailers that get involved with it, but Google will win because they do something that M$ can never ever manage – they employ smart people who are interesting in computers and softare (to be fair so do Apple, probably why these 2 companies are so closely linked). M$ have gotten away with pushing os’s that are not only 5 years behind the curve, they are not even fully internet compatible!!! Then again why bother to innovate when you can simply remove choice from the shitminchers?
Anyone claims windows is somehow ‘better’ than a real os should go away and learn some basics of what a pc actually is.

By: Twitter Trackbacks for Will Linux ever hit the mainstream? | PC Pro blog [pcpro.co.uk] on Topsy.com

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 01:51:30 +0000

[...] Will Linux ever hit the mainstream? | PC Pro blog http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2009/03/26/will-linux-ever-hit-the-mainstream – view page – cached Reading today’s story about the chief exec of Red Hat admitting he was unsure if Linux had a future on the desktop reminded me of a conversation I had just — From the page [...]

By: Hands on with Nvidia Tegra | PC Pro blog

Hands on with Nvidia Tegra | PC Pro blog — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:20:01 +0000

[...] that consumers would be glad to see a Windows OS rather than Linux, which inspired a spate of unfamiliarity-driven returns when it was included with the first netbooks, and that XP isn’t a natural fit for these machines, [...]

By: The key to Linux's mainstream success | PC Pro blog

The key to Linux's mainstream success | PC Pro blog — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:16:20 +0000

[...] esteemed editor, Tim Danton, recently ran a thought piece wondering whether Linux would ever hit the mainstream, his ten cents worth clattering down on the side that says “probably [...]

By: Graham

Graham — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:01:54 +0000

lordshipmayhem – We moved from Office 2000 to 2007 recently at work and you’d have thought that the word was ending from the fuss made by the average user. That was still recognisably office and most people could just about get their head round it, eventually. Based on that experience anyone suggesting that they’d like to migrate 20,000+ desktops away from the familiarity of MS Windows is far, far braver than me.

By: lordshipmayhem

lordshipmayhem — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:37:46 +0000

I think there are two very strong items holding back Linux desktop adoption. First, the workplaces have to start switching, and second the retailers have to.

When the workplaces installed the first MS-DOS, then every office worker had to have one for home, despite having Apples and Commodores and other hardware/operating system combinations. If Microsoft continues to screw up their relationships with their corporate end users (by licence audits and changes to the operating system that break custom applications), they’ll find more and more Linux operating system-run desktops.

And as the employees at these firms find themselves working in a Linux environment, they’ll find themselves wanting the same software as they’re used to at work. Then they’ll go into the store and ask for it – and eventually the storeowner will have to realize how dumb “Like I told the 50 people before you today, there’s just NO DEMAND!” really sounds.

By: DavidW

DavidW — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:47:31 +0000

Quite a few of my customers use Linux netbooks as do I. These just ‘work’ in the same way that other appliances, e.g. mobile phones, do.

By: David Wright

David Wright — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:15:33 +0000

It is all down to the initial install and the user.

For its general purpose – a mobile internet platform – a pre-configured Linux is fine.

For a pre-configured desktop, Linux is fine. The biggest problem is non-enthusiasts trying to install it on random hardware. There it is very hit and miss.

My last desktop and laptop were 100% supported (purely by chance) by openSUSE. Re-installing Windows, it refused to believe that there was a hard drive, or ethernet or wireless or sound and that the 1280×800 display was only capable of 800×600 and there was no graphics chip installed.

openSUSE, on the other hand, booted into 1280×800, offered me a list of wireless networks in my area and setting up my JetDirect connected HP printer was a doddle! Only OS X made things a tad easier on my iMac.

Likewise, my mother came over to visit and I gave her my older laptop to use while she was there. That evening, she told me “your Windows is much better than my Windows” (my “Windows” was openSUSE 10.0). She ended up taking the laptop back with her and instead of support calls about crashes or the printer not working, I get reports on her new Tetris high scores!

For a lot of users, if the machine was correctly configured and included web browser, e-mail and Open Office, they probably wouldn’t spot a difference – assuming their printer and camera connect smoothly.

Some users will have problems, the same as they have moving to Vista, it doesn’t look the same as XP and some things have moved (sometimes to more logical positions). But because it doesn’t look and work exactly like XP, it is BAD! Microsoft has enough problems with this bunch, let alone getting them to use Linux or OS X!

If the manufacturers worked with the community, like Intel, and to a lesser extent AMD/ATi and nVidia have done, then the switching to Linux for the average user would be much less painful.

Pre-configured machines are essential though. Linux is, often, a lot easier to install than Windows, but for over 90% of users, they never get anywhere near installing Windows, let alone something “different”. Get them to install Windows or Linux and they will be equally stuck…

By: paulzolo

paulzolo — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:03:37 +0000

Linux needs to be on the curve then. It needs to be able to plug and play with the kit consumers want it to – cameras, both digital and video, it has to be able to work with iPods, iPhones, Windows Mobile devices, and other obiel OSes. It has to be able to handle the commonly used media transport systems – Windows Media, QuickTime, Real Player.

Linux also needs far better documentation – to the level of Microsoft and Apple. The Linux community has to be prepared, and willing to support consumers and not just the propellor heads it currently attracts.

Until these are addressed, Linux will always be the Liberal Democrats of the OS universe.