PC makers move closer to a post-Windows world

If you want to do real work, get a machine running Windows or a *nix distro… If you want to draw butterflys, by all means… get a mac.

I have installed and worked with all three of today’s three major operating systems – Windows, Ubuntu (Linux) and Apple’s OS X. I’ll offer my objective and candid observations here.

I have found both Microsoft Windows Vista and Office 2007 to be disappointments. For Windows environments, I still very much prefer Windows XP over VISTA and the earlier versions of Office (XP, 2000, 2003) over Office 2007.

Perhaps my biggest beef against these two products (after using every flavor of their predecessors since Windows 95) is that what I had previously learned, particularly for routine tasks, has changed radically, but without much in the way of corresponding benefits.

However, from what I’ve seen of the next generation of Windows (Windows 7) it appears that Microsoft will finally have an acceptable replacement for XP. Therefore, I recommend using XP over VISTA, at least until the next generation of Windows arrives.

Now, in all fairness to Office 2007, I’ve used non-Microsoft products that implement the new ribbon interface and I’ve mastered them easily. I suppose I will gradually switch to Office 2007 if for no other reason than to gain access to the Smart Art features in PowerPoint, because for me they will indeed add quite a bit of value.

Despite the missteps of VISTA and the Office 2007 user interface, Microsoft is a force to be reckoned with. Although their market domination is loosening, they’re still in the hunt. Microsoft XP and Office offers a far greater reach to applications than the competition. Often times that alone will dictate operating system choice.

I have recently installed UBUNTU and I’ve found it to be far better than the previous versions of LINUX I’ve tried. It installs and behaves well. As for Open Office, it just keeps on improving and is really a strong and serious alternative to Microsoft Office, especially for users who are on a budget. Firefox works well as a browser and has a strong following in the Windows community as well. The UBUNTU/Open Office/Firefox combination looks, feels and operates in a deliberately similar fashion to a Windows XP/Office combination, except at a much lower cost. Although, it is still a bit too early for me to assess the long-term stability of UBUNTU, for now it looks to be a solid and stable performer. From a financial standpoint, UBUNTU is the clear winner.

Finally, I would like to mention Apple OS-X. The Macs we have are running the two older versions of OS-X (Tiger and Panther). In general, I have found that Macs using OS-X work very smoothly and reliably. In particular, I like OS-X Tiger. Ease of use sums up the Apple experience. I have grown quite fond of both the dock and the dashboard as Windows taskbar/desktop replacements.

An important point regarding Apple: I have not noticed any degradation of operating system performance over time with Apple hardware. I can’t say the same for any hardware operating under Windows – they simply slow down over time. Performance enhancers such as disk de-fragmentation, anti-virus and clean-up tools seem to offer limited performance improvement, but these are added-cost utilities. I’m expecting similar results to be forthcoming out of UBUNTU.

On the three older iBook laptops we have, their elapsed runtime, operating off of battery power, outperforms a much newer COMPAQ machine running XP. These laptops use the now obsolete PowerPC architecture and perhaps that’s the difference behind the lower power consumption. We use Microsoft Office 2004 to maintain good compatibility with Windows versions of Microsoft Office. We also use Apple’s Safari browser.

Although Apple PCs are definitely more costly to acquire than are Windows-based PCs, there is an elegance and a simplicity about the MAC and OS-X that makes it perhaps the strongest contender in today’s hard-fought operating system war.

In closing, the determinant of an operating system will be largely dependent on the specific applications you will need, and on what platform(s) they are available on. The starting point is usually Windows, but your choices will narrow from there.

If basic Internet, e-mail and Office suite applications are all that’s needed, UBUNTU will suffice and at a much lower cost than the alternatives.

However, if you’ve got the money, go with an Apple Mac and Microsoft Office for Mac.

IMHO don’t know how relevant this is but vista with sp1 isn’t bad at all. if your hardware isn’t way out of date it runs fine

Microsoft has illegally leveraged their monopoly for years.
They have unfairly squashed hundreds of potential competitors and stifled America’s technological creative destruction process.
Microsoft has also tricked consumers into buying dysfunctional products, such as the millions of malfunctioning “Vista Ready” computers sold.
It’s about time the American consumer gets weaned off of third-rate windows software.

I work typically with Windows, but I have found that Ubuntu is very easy to use.

To the post below. You have been using Linux for a whole year and have only found that the distros that look similar to Windows 3.1 are usable? I would not consider you very technical. Many Linux based OSs have easier software installation than Windows and are much faster and more secure than Windows.

One thing I have noticed is that those that consider them selves “technical” have a much harder time using Linux than those who just use a PC and don’t care how it works. Linux is easy. I use Ultimate Edition. Software installs consist of finding what you want and clicking apply. How much easier could you want it? You have to remember one very important fact first, Linux is not Windows, so if you are a techie and are trying to do things the “Windows way” then you will have a hard time. If you say, hey, let’s see how things work here, then it will be very easy.

At least these note books won’t need virus protection and spyware protection. Those are Windows things.

I’ve immersed myself learning and using Linux for the past year. I have a degree in Computer Science, so I’m fairly technical. The more usable forms of Linux are similar to Windows 3.0, they are very basic in their GUI. Downloading and installing applications from the internet can be an issue for non-technically inclined folks. Dealing with configuration files after package(application_ installations(like the old PC config.sys and autoexec.bat , and .ini files) is very common. Worst yet, is that command line usage in Linux is encouraged. Granted, You can do a lot through the command line, but familiarizing with command line tools and their infinite number of parameters can be daunting for most folks. Linux is free , but as they say ‘you get what you pay for’. If you’re not very technical and you want to spend productive time in front of your computer, rather than figuring out how to get your programs to run, Linux is not for you.

it doesn’t meter u like (or dislike) windows ,linux, dos, unix, amiga, etc…

every thing is about competition…. those who say Linux is not a real threat for Microsoft should just look at ms_sbs_2008 ms_ebs_2008 and ms_office_sbs pricing

competition from Linux will push more nad more market leader to cut its margins and suite products to fulfill customers needs… however it’s not likely to have it beaten by open source system…

“and Intel can make sure Atom devices with Linux are specially tuned to conserve battery life, said Anand Chandrasekher, general manager of Intel’s Ultra Mobility Group”

Interesting considering the amount of time a netbook is good for is approx. 2 hrs longer on windows xp vs linux netbooks all around at the moment. The main reason for it is, cheaper pc’s, and to catch the anti-media attention that is surronding microsoft. Media power has once again taken facts and made what ever they have wanted of it!

” it will become the first major computer maker this decade (besides Apple, of course) to push a non-Windows PC in stores.”
Wrong! ASUS markets a sub-$400 laptop running Red Hat Linux in Target stores already!

From Jon Fortt: Again, ASUS = not a major computer maker.

Everyone “deserves” to have access to technology, and here is a viable option for people who can’t afford to lay down thousands for a computer. Good move, regardless of the operating system.

~~TAKE THIS ENTIRE ARTICLE AND ALL THESE COMMENTS WITH A LARGE GRAIN OF SALT~~

i am horrified at the notion that the first impression someone may have of linux could be this article which – while _technically_ accurate – is horribly misleading.

what was it jon fortt said? ‘acer is not a major pc maker’ and ‘it doesnt count as retail if its just sold online’…please.

and the comments by both linux users and haters below (except Randy below and a few others) are very off mark.

im pretty sure many of the supposed linux users below aren’t actually linux users – but trolls.

quote::It took me a lot of time to get network card installed on Linux, then took me two days still couldn’t figure out how to make the audio card work,

You are either telling us porkies, or you have some really really strange hardware.

I have yet to come across any laptop or desktop machine where the network card doesn’t work out of the box with Linux, and I’ve been installing Linux on lots of different machines (laptop and desktop) since 2000. Same applies to Audio.

————————————–

I’ve been programming and using Linux for 15 years, and as much as I enjoy Linux, your comments demonstrate an almost delusionally naive grasp of the purported ‘ease of use’ of Linux. If everything always works “out of the box” with Linux as you say, then I’d say that you don’t have nearly enough experience installing Linux to make such a comment. In reality, it is far more difficult on average to install Linux and enable all of your hardware than it is on a Windows machine. In fact, just three days ago I installed Ubuntu on an Acer laptop and – guess what? – the Wi-fi card and sound card didn’t work “out of the box.”

The first major computer maker (besides Apple)??? Really??? Dell has been selling Linux laptops for years! Nice to know the tech reporters have their heads firmly in the sand (or elsewhere!)

From Jon Fortt: At retail. At retail. At retail.

@Robert A., Kernersville

First the default setting on all the desktop Linuxes I’m familiar with – Mandriva, Ubuntu, Mepis, Saybayon, Mint, PCLinuxOS – is to keep a strong seperation between the root and the ordinary user. None of these desktop distributions allow logging in as root.

To make this possible requires knowledge a novice user won’t have. So there is little danger of a novice user running as root.

I’ve been using Mandriva Linux since the year 2000, and I rarely have to use the Command line, I will use it by choice because it’s quicker, and never for the sorts of things that a novice user might wish to do, so while learning the command line is a useful thing to do, and will help the more experienced user do many useful things faster, it is not at all necessary for a new Linux user.

Interesting. I suppose the eeepc, which I am using now, did not come with linux (mine did) and did not sell some 4 MILLION units in the last 12 months. So how can you say HP is the first?

Reseach, please, before typing.

From Jon Fortt: Asus is by no means a major PC maker.

I’ve been using Linux for ten years.
Mainstream Linux distributions handle installing software through a package manager. If you’re using one of these, do not take someone’s advice to compile software you can’t find an installable package for. It is not usually as simple as people pretend it is. You will find there is software out there that is not universally maintained. Ask the developers of your distribution brand to create a package for you, or use an alternative instead. I have seen the the proper process for package development, and if you’re not knowledgeable enough to make the package, you have no business trying to compile software for use with your Linux OS. Since compiling does not necessarily make it properly compatible and quite often makes properly removing it messy. Probably in most cases, it won’t work to begin with, and then you’ll be asking yourself how to remove it. This does not bar the use of installers made by hardware vendors, however, look for a package made by the developers and use it instead if possible.

Furthermore, if you are using a distribution where the support staff have told you not to run your desktop as root user, listen to them. The only reason you’re trying to run your desktop as root is because you have not grasped the fundamental nature of the operating sytem. It does not make things easier! It would be safer and alot less likely to cause severe problems with the operating system to just not use Linux at all. Remember, it’s not Windows, but it makes more sense and is easier to use than Windows if you listen to what people tell you and are willing to learn the commandline. It comes in time. Most people with simple needs can put it off, but the community will always suggest to take the time getting acquainted with it. Learn the directory structure, navigation through the terminal, and try tweaking configuration files. Nobody complained about DOS back in the day. Microsoft’s DOS was easy then. In contrast, the terminal for Linux is easier and more powerful. Use it, and don’t run ‘make’ commands unless you know what you’re doing.
Two more points I’d like to make:
How the linux community works, ei: the module structure, and how the default intended permissions were set in the directories are a major reason why viruses can only deliver very limited damage if any. Just try not to say it will never happen. I run antivirus mostly because I use applications through Wine on occasion. Viruses I have had before managed to destabilize the desktop, so be forewarned.
Finally, the reason why alot of hardware won’t work in Linux is because that bargain basement toy you bought was designed in exclusive collaboration with Microsoft, therefore, it exclusively works with the version of Windows it was designed around. Sometimes, rarely, the Linux community can make it work, but it’s smarter to be careful of what you buy. My take on someone complaining about Linux gurus taking four hours to realise something doesn’t work: Absolutely ridiculous. Stuff either works or it doesn’t. The community is there, newbies and gurus alike should use it. Forums, and the whole internet have search functions.

Linux isn’t difficult to use, the ongoing mantra about huge learning curves only apply to those who compile their distributions from source. You can take a distro like Ubuntu, install it, then spend a day fiddling around with it and you’ll know all you need to know to use it to do everything you currently do on Windows.

quote::Don’t you understand that the only reason why windows is installed in computers (by default) is the very fact that Microsoft pays under the table to ensure OS domination by force.

Actually that’s not correct. Microsoft tied the hardware manufacturers up in contracts that pretty much give Microsoft control of what operating system goes onto any computer manufactured. There are in fact very few hardware manufacturers, and none of them are in the top selling groups, that are not locked in to these contracts.

If the manufacturers break the contract by, for example building machines that are Operating system free, Microsoft will not give the Manufacturers the hefty discount on the OEM license, and the Manufacturers have been, until recently, with the advent of the netbook (obviously not covered by the contract), it appears, afraid to break ranks, and become the first manufacturer to be punished.

Don’t you understand that the only reason why windows is installed in computers (by default) is the very fact that Microsoft pays under the table to ensure OS domination by force.
Wouldn’t you do the same if you wanted to get rich?

quote::In response to Tracyanne’s comments:
Security for the reasons of ActiveX etc are totally non-sensical and partial understanding of how OS level security works.

Then you don’t understand how security on Windows works, and nor do you understand how Security on Mac or Linux works.

ACtiveX, or as it used to be called COM and DCOM , has full access to the entire Windows filesystem – it always has. It runs with the same privilages as the current user. Typically on a Windows system the current user has Administrator (root) privilages (so they can install arbitrary software downloaded from the internet). That same user when surfing the web is surfing the web with Administrator privilages, which means that IE, if they are using it, or Firfox, also has administrator privilages, which means that any rogue website, or pwned website, can instantly download and install any software the malware developer wants, using ActiveX as the vector.

Typically Linux and Unix, including the Mac, do not allow the current user to operate with Administrator privilages. Which means that when they are surfing the internet, the browser is running with the minimal privilages that the current user has. To install software on a Linux system you have to temporarily increase your privilages, always within the controlled context of the package manager, installing arbitrary software on Linux, is neither encouraged, nor particularly easy for the sort of user you are talking about.

quote::Any OS including Unix variants and Linux can be made insecure just by allowing the novice users to use them

Indeed they can, but not as easily as you think, especially for novice users. the Default setting for all easy to use desktop Linuxes is to have a strong seperation between the Administrator (root) and the ordinary user. It takes knowledge to make a Linux system insecure, not the lack of it.

On the other hand it take knowledge to make a Windows system secure. Knowledge none of my little old ladies – who incidentaly are thriving on Linux, whereas they were forever asking someone to clean out their Windows computers – have, and are not interesting in having.

quote::once they get to be user friendly.

They are, already. My little old Ladies. Women between late 50s and early 70s are using Mandriva Linux with no problems at all.

quote::All these arguments are from IT community which is a small fraction of user community – finally whatever user appreciates, that wins.

This last bit makes no sense at all. But I knew you didn’t know what you were talking about from the start.

quote::I started using Linux about ten months ago. I am a 50 yr old non geek who can load Windows and all drivers needed. I can also load Linux on a machine. Linux at least the distro. that I use is easier.Ubuntu! In fact my 71yr old Mother finds it very easy to use.

Of course Linux is easy to use. I’ve upgraded a number of people in my town from both Windows XP and Windows Vista to Mandriva Linux. I refer to them as my little old ladies, they are mostly Women (a few men) aged between late 50s and early 70s. They have no trouble at all using Linux.

It’s simply misinformation (and I suspect deliberate), that Linux is in anyway difficult

Get a Mac.
There are no viruses,
No need to run Anti-virus software.
The over all cost is cheaper when you figure in all the other costs that go with maintaining a Windows machine.
Actually, if you spec out a comparable PC the price differences are null.
And its alot less frustrating and easy to use.
Not to mention you can run Windows on it, though I wouldnt recommend unless you have to. And you can run Linux or just about any OS you desire.
To say that Windows has so many viruses because of its popularity if false.
If this is true, the Mac OSX would have atleast 17% of the viruses which is false, considering it has NONE.

quote::I never trust something that I get for free.

I’m happy to sell you a copy of any Linux Distribution you choose, the GNU/GPL gives me that right, just let me know what price will inspire the most trust and I’ll ship you a copy once the money hits my bank

I am reading this on a Dell Optiplex running both OpenSUSE 11 and Kubuntu 8.04 and doing just fine. Microsoft is secret code and my source code is free and open. Linux does not tell PC manufacturers how they must sell PC, but the market should. Linux rules !

I started using Linux about ten months ago. I am a 50 yr old non geek who can load Windows and all drivers needed. I can also load Linux on a machine. Linux at least the distro. that I use is easier.Ubuntu! In fact my 71yr old Mother finds it very easy to use.And no I don’t have to go to the store and find software just look in the repository and enjoy. Saves gas rubber and oil. Oh and money! And if the software is not what I needed I don’t have to go back to the store and have some kid tell me that I am out of luck the seal has been broken on the wrapper. The FUD continues that normal mortals can’t use Linux but we can, and are, so the debate is over. We are downloading and converting at a fast rate I have help seven people myself in the last 10 months free themselves for MSFT. And they have helped friends! But Linux will never catch on? That is just not true.If you keep an eye on the consumer the non geek public I think you will notice they all want the sane thing. A working computer that is easy to use. Well take a look at Ubuntu, Linux Mint and a host of others. Open Office 3.0 need not apologize to anyone it is a full featured suite of software. Linux users now have it all.

The reason that Microsoft is hear to stay is BECAUSE of the competition. This is BECAUSE the competition is what supplies Mircosoft with there “innovation”. I always hated IE, but had to use it when you could no longer use Netscape. Along comes Firefox and I ditched IE. Then comes IE7, very, very similar now to Firefox. I still use Firefox BTW. My point is that as long as Linux,Firefox,etc., continue to keep making advancements, Microsoft will just copy them, then make some minor cosmetic changes, and then come out with their “upgrade”. There will always be Microsoft because there will always be pirates.

Ying, when did you try this with Linux? Was this recently? Even since the turn of the century the thing that Linux always had great strength in was networking. One thing I have never ever had a problem with is wired networking and network card recognition.

Recent Linux distributions work well with both networking and sound. Playing MP3s is a doddle these days.

Give a modern distribution a try. It’s evolving rapidly.

I never trust something that I get for free. I know that with Windows, someone is fixing the bugs and the updater quietly does its job.

My laptop heats up pretty badly with Linux and shuts down with critical temperature reached, ABRUPTLY. With Windows this does not happen, even if I keep 20 tabs with youtube streaming videos. Good power/energy management.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Market-Share-Windows-57-5-Linux-40-6-an-Open-Source-Dream-Come-True-74272.shtml

Linux and/or Apple have no chance in hell lmfao

quote::It took me a lot of time to get network card installed on Linux, then took me two days still couldn’t figure out how to make the audio card work,

You are either telling us porkies, or you have some really really strange hardware.

I have yet to come across any laptop or desktop machine where the network card doesn’t work out of the box with Linux, and I’ve been installing Linux on lots of different machines (laptop and desktop) since 2000. Same applies to Audio.

For a bunch of Linux users to have the sort of trouble, you describe, with a network card or an audio card is simply unbelievable.

Now if it had been a Broadcom Wireless card, Broadcom are notorious for their lack of support, for Linux, with their Wireless cards, their network cards, on the other hand, work like any other brand of network card, flawlessly. But even so, it’s fairly trivial, at least with the Linux Distributions I’m familiar with – Mandriva and Ubuntu – to install the Windows drivers via NDISWrapper. I’m simply not aware of any Audio Cards that are problematic with Linux.

In response to Tracyanne’s comments:
Security for the reasons of ActiveX etc are totally non-sensical and partial understanding of how OS level security works. Any OS including Unix variants and Linux can be made insecure just by allowing the novice users to use them – once they get to be user friendly.All these arguments are from IT community which is a small fraction of user community – finally whatever user appreciates, that wins.

I’ve been using linux as my only os for 7 years because I’m not smart tech savy enough to run windows. Linux does everything for you. All the drivers automagicly. I don’t have to constantly repair, defrag, antivirus my computer any more. I’m using it instead of fixing it. I don’t know why people still use windows anyway

I had tried install both Windows and Linux on my PC. A direct feeling is: if you want to get job done and get devices working smoothly without being a computer guru, then go to Windows. If you have unlimited energy and interests to explore computer science (no other commitments in your life), then go to Linux. It took me a lot of time to get network card installed on Linux, then took me two days still couldn’t figure out how to make the audio card work, I just wanted to play MP3 songs on Linux, after several days frustration, I brought my PC to the Linux fans meeting where a lot of Linux Guru over there to provide free help, but they just wasted my and their time for about four hours and finally gave up. That was my painful experience with Linux.

quote::The only reason Windows is so prone to virus attacks is because it’s such a popular platform.

Untrue, ill informed twaddle. The main reason Microsoft Windows is plagued with Viruses is insecure software, which is integrated into the stack. ActiveX and Internet Explorer’s reliance on it.

ActiveX has been, since it was introduced in the late 1990s, and appears that it will continue to be, as Microsoft have made no attempt to secure it, insecure, and the major reason why zero day infections (via the Browser) of MS Windows are so common.

To assume that Linux, or even the Mac, will will become successful targets for Malicious software, as they become more popular, is to both misunderstand Windows security (or the lack thereof), and Linux and Mac Security paradigms.

Microsoft Windows is the only operating system that requires that one install additional software in order to make the Operating System function as advertised.

@David in Redmond.

The fact you think Windows is easier to install than Linux shows yu have not installed Linux. Linux takes around a half hour to install (way less than Windows) and has drivers on the DVD or in repositories. Once you have installed Windows you have to find drivers on separate DVDs or trawl the web. Then you have to install all your applications. With Linux? Already installed.

The fact you think it’s messy to install programs also reveals a lack of knowledge of Linux and its repositories. (RPMs are only one way of installing btw. Debian based systems use apt-get.) Whichever system that is used it is so simple. No trawling the web, just a graphically based repository where you choose the program, then the program and all its dependencies are magically installed.

I have to run XP in work, the disk gets fragmented badly.

The fact you think Linux will get viruses in time shows you do not understand how the Linux architecture works.

The fact you say you have to recompile when you want to install a driver shiws you know nothing about that topic.

The point here David is you are propagating the same old FUD when you don’t use Linux and don’t understand it.

Linux is not divided in a negative way. It has different distributions that give you choice. You simply do not have to be an expert to use it. My friend who is the most computer illiterate person you could meet uses it just fine.

I notice you are in Redmond. A Microsoft employee are you?

I didn’t call *you* a myopic American. Seems I touched a nerve though.

Your point about it being painful for the common user and just for savvy tech users again reveals you simply haven’t tried it. More blind FUD. When you have installed and used modern Mandriva, Ubuntu or something similar then come back with some *valid* points. Until then, don’t talk about something you don’t know about.

Oh, and I wasn’t ranting. You were though.

DiBosco, you sound like a Linux fanboy yourself. I’ve used Linux since RedHat distribution was one of the key players. Linux is only as fast as your hardware. Today, I use Ubuntu and I redistribute it freely.

Virus resistant? The only reason Windows is so prone to virus attacks is because it’s such a popular platform. When Linux or Mac OS rise to MS’ level of popularity, you’ll no doubt see the the amount of viruses in these other platforms rise in direct proportion.

Easy to install? Give me a break. Not the average Joe know what a Volume is or is capable of re-partitioning a hard drive, let alone understand the different file format schemas.

Easier to install programs? You have got to be kidding me right? Unless you have all the necessary libraries pre-installed, or packaged with the software distributions, good luck using the ‘get’ command to acquire the necessary libs, untar them and install them BEFORE you can install your software. God forbid these required libs are dependent on other libraries.

Windows work because it is user friendly, like Mac OS. Linux is designed for the more experienced PC users.

“I refuse now to help people with Windows machines and tell them if they want support they will have to run Linux.” Yeah, sounds like a fanboy to me.

3 years ago I gave up Windows cold turkey and bought one of Apple’s beautiful iMacs. I know looks are not important because when your computer crashes, you want to throw it out the door no matter how beautiful it is. Anyways, my iMac has worked flawlessly since the day I brought it home and I bet I can get another 3 years out of it… I do not miss Windows, and I can’t believe I didn’t ditch that piece of junk way before than I did. And I knew my way around PCs; I even built them and configured Windows networks!

I’ve been using Linux since 1998 – origianlly I started on Slackware, and it wasn’t the most beautiful product, but it was stable as hell.

I used it to run servers, Apache and other things.

BUt over the years, I really gotten to love Ubuntu, I have two servers running that, one for Web serving and one dedicated to ORacle 11G.

I’ve tried RedHat Fedora 9, and compared to Ubunut, it’s not even close.

It’s choppy even with 3D acceleration turned ON and the Yum Updater is giving me problems.

I got so frustrated with Fedora 9, that I dummped that and went back to Ubuntu, as Oracle don’t support it yet, but guess what, the software works anyways, and 8.10 is coming out in days, yes!!!!!!!!

Both the Desktop and Server is free BTW.

RedHat has a communist name and colors.

IMHO the article, as well as nearly every comment I’ve read here, misses the point. Oh, and let’s not forget that the point is being missed in nearly every bit of media I’ve seen on this subject lately.

The subject is “Netbooks” or Mini-Notebooks.

The difference is that they are light and cheap and are generally lining up with the promise of a better experience for casual lap-top users who aren’t doing much more than using a browser.

That IS the point. It isn’t about how much better the OS is or isn’t, it is not about how fast the processor is, it isn’t about what version of what software can be run. It is about the NETWORK experience.

Most of what Netbooks are about is focussed on the browser and the battle lines for future use of these devices will take another direction that is not even mentioned.

For that we’ll likey see a lot of re-tooled software in the next few years – especially around cloud computing. And let’s not forget Microsoft or count them out – with the new anouncement of Azure and the direction they are heading with Windows7 and software+services.

So the point here is twofold:

1) Look to Netbooks as a cool browser experience and focus commentary on how well these devices hit that target.

2) Discuss how we will adapt software over the coming years to better reflect the coming age of ultra-portability and seamless networking.

So please, enough about displacing company x, y or z with a Netbook, how unrealistic. If linux was going to displace Microsoft it would have done it a long time ago.

The real beauty of those Mac vs. PC commercials is that they push those as the two choices Bill Gates makes money either way. We wouldn’t want to let anybody think there are other operating systems …

DiBosco I am not defending Windows, but it gets to me when fanboys close their minds and rant blindly. you said: Linux is faster (I concede this one), more stable (I haven’t had a crash on XP since SP1 and never on Vista. They do happen, but most of the time it is a slopy driver misbehaving), virus resistant (This is a mere circumstancial situation. As soon as Linux gets implemented on most servers out there, hackers trying to stick it to the man will begin attacking them. This is the gratest wisdom of software development NO SOFTWARE IS BUG FREE, really NO SOFTWARE, remember Debian SSL fiasco?), doesn’t get its hard drive fragmented (What… what are you talking about, it seems that the last time you used Windows it was Win95), easier to install (This is absolutely biased, there’s no way you can get easier than Windows, just pop the disc and click next a couple of times, enter a password here, and off you go. Or better yet, get your new computer with it in it already. There are some Linux distros that make it, indeed, very easy, but most of them are not as easy, particularily for non tech users), easier to install programs on to (Now this is the worst lie I have ever seen. Again, there might be some apps easy and ready to use, unfortunately a lot of stuff out there is still distributed on rpm, which is basically devil’s poo. On my previous job we had a guy just to deal with Linux images because of the complexity of dealing with the software running on it. I had a terrible couple of weeks trying to get gcc installed on one of the images – no we couldn’t use Fedora, Mandriva, Slackware of other preconfigured distros, it had to be on our Linux testing images – and I only could get it half working after lot of frustration and non standard procedures found on some obscure site. I asked some Linux proficient guys and they confessed they find it hard to get gcc working on a bare bones Linux too, that most of the time they get it preloaded from a preconfigured distribution. I might be a klutz on Linux but there is no way installing programs on it is easier than on Windows, EVER. Visual Studio gets installed in 20 minutes, and my mom can do it), well engineered (this is arguable, you can’t say that of an architechture that forces you to recompile it every time you want to add a driver. To me that’s a severe design flaw, why should I recompile the OS, and risk bricking my system, if I want to add a driver? You feel free to say so because as you, there are loads of Linux fanboys ready to support you. I am not saying Windows is better engineered, I’m just saying that you say that just to sound important, and because you know it would be hard to prove you wrong), open and free (well this wasn’t part of the discussion.)

Indeed Linux is a neat OS, and very useful for a lot of different types of users, however GPL 2.0 does it a lot of damage, unless licenses get more relaxed, they will be as restrictive as having to pay for it, at least for enterprise adoption. I belive that you have to use the right tool for the right task, Linux is great for Computer Engineering students, is a cheap way to deal with a solid OS, learn from it, experiment, etc. It is a good platform for tech savvy users of other fields, such as scientists due to its support of standards. Unfortunately it is still a painful experience for the common user.

Don’t come to me with prejorative adjectives as myopic American, I am not even American, And I am aware of the Linux usage in other fields and enterprises. But I am still aware that it is the least used by far. Those figures aren’t over-the-top. I really hope for a broader adoption of the Linux platform, it would serve well everybody to have a good challenge, unfortunately Linux is divided, and if you want to run a tricky piece of software, pray they have binaries for your distro, or you would have to live the hell of compiling it yourself, of switching distro to accomodate the program. Thruth is IT IS DIVIDED. You have to be an expert in Linux to navigate around its complexities, which is fine, for some people.

Linux is by far more superior operating system. However, I don’t see it taking significant byte from MS market share. One of the reasons that prevented Linux from getting larger acceptance was lack of third party software that would run on it. Though several times I have been assigned to check the feasibility of deploying Linux as a desktop in our firm (couple of thousands of users) I had to report back that while basic tasks and standard MS Office tasks could be handled adequately, we will not be able to find Linux alternative to specialized third party software that is vital to us – Financial Research software, time billing software, legal reserach and litigation software, mutual fund screening applications, accounting and billing packages – they are all written by major software vendors but none would write for Linux and we had to stay with MS despite the fact that upper management was willing to undertake the transition and re-training pain. This problem affects all other competing OSs, not just Linux. The original deviding of the market in 1980’s into business for MS and arts for Apple came for the same reason – available software.

The server side is slightly different story – you have re-sellers who are pushing Windows. When we were overhalling our server side couple of years ago in a different organization and brought hardware re-sellers, they where pushing MS based servers even though Linux would be good alternative for us. The reason – resellers don’t make money on selling Linux. Moreover, the sell pitch is usually made over the heads of IT management and straight to the executives, who want to stick with the larger player, MS.

This battle was lost in 1990’s, when financial service companies started abandoning UNIX in favor of MS servers in their most vital departments – trading desks and some back offices. When I questioned one of IT executives in a top tier investment bank whether Windows was indeed better (that was NT era), the answer was, “No way! NT sucks in comparison with UNIX but the decision was made at the higher level. They have no idea of technology but got a power marketing push from MS.” That’s when the battle was lost. Unfortunately, no one is going to market Linux while MS has a huge marketing muscle. And no one is about to market wide variety of third party software either. Too bad.

I have been using Linux for a number of years. First Mandrake and now Ubuntu. Prefer Linux although it is not perfect either, but has fewer problems than Windows. But you mentioned in the article going to Internet based applications. That makes me shudder thinking my personal data is a disk somewhere I have no control over.

I think that the Government at the very least should go to Linux based systems. Networking and file-sharing are much easier to do when Linux is running. Imagine if the FBI, NSA, CIA, DIA, and all of those other three-letter-agencies could actually network their intelligence effectively…

It’s fascinating seeing all the Microsoft fanboys and apologists, and people who have no imagination for anything beyond what they know.

Linux is faster, more stable, virus resistant , doesn’t get its hard drive fragmented, easier to install, easier to install programs on to, well engineered, open and free. All these facts point towards it being adopted. This adoption is seeing a real snowball effect at the moment. The hilariously out of date figures of a fraction of a percent marked share quoted in some of these posts is laughable. Linux is far more prevalent than Mac OS on a global basis, but I rather suspect a lot of the posters on here are myopic Americans who haven’t stepped out of their country and even begun to imagine what people in far flung corners of the world might be using other than Windows or Mac OSes.

Applications like Open Office are being used by many governments and local authorities around the world. In my job I go and visit many high tech companies and am seeing the use of OO grow by the week.

If people cannot see that there will be a tipping point where enough people are using Open Office that both that and MS Office will be implemented in companies and then MS Office ditched because it is so expensive, people are burying their heads in the sand.

The issue of non-compatibility is interesting. Open Office conforms to the Open Document Standard which is an ISO standard. Microsoft have just bribed their OOXML standard into ISO standardisation and their office suite doesn’t even support it.

The issue is that Microsoft are the people who don’t conform to standards. They never have in fact and their days of being able to do this are coming to an end. They know this and they *are* worried about it.

Microsoft are a very young company in the great scheme of things and they could disappear as quickly as they arrived.

Comments like having Windows on nine out of ten computers meaning you can be more efficient are so wide of the mark you realise the level of ignorance that exists in the world of computers. It shows the usual, sad side of laziness and unwillingness to learn that seems to exist once people leave school.

Why do people dislike Microsoft, Clay? Because they are a monopolistic, bullying company that sells substandard software for hugely inflated prices. The philanthropic arm you talk of is easy when you have cornered a market, bullied all competition away and have more money that you will ever know what to do with. It’s Bill that has been philanthropic with his personal fortune anyway, not MS themselves.

To Jason, your post about Broadcom wireless NICs is lazy and out of date. Mandriva 2008.1 onwards works just fine without ndis.

To the person who talked about too many flavours of Linux: rot. Linux is Linux under the desktop and stuff works regardless. The beauty is you have the choice of working in exactly the way *you* want , not the way MS wants. Modern distributions are easy to pick up and hop from one to another. And if you don’t want to change, just stick with what you have. No being forced to upgrade when MS forces you to because they need -no, want – to make another bucket-load of money.

For the majority of normal, home users, Linux is a fantastic alternative to Windows. I refuse now to help people with Windows machines and tell them if they want support they will have to run Linux. You know what? The vast majority who have tried it love running it and I love it because the time spent fixing virus problems, fixing defrag problems, having to reinstall because of Winrot have all just gone.

Microsoft has so much market share and money it will not be going just yet, but their market share is on the decline and will continue to decline now. Why would it not when there is such a huge threat from open source software?

The claim that you can’t use OpenOffice to send documents to Word users is simply not true. I use OpenOffice all the time to do just that. I even used it to edit the Word documents that my publisher required when I wrote my three books.

Is Linux for everyone? No, but then neither is Windows or Mac OS. But backwards compatibility issues are always an issue when a major shift takes place. Like all of the DOS programs that weren’t compatible with Windows, the 16 bit Windows programs that weren’t compatible with 32 bit versions of Windows, and Mac OS software that weren’t compatible with Mac OS/X.

If netbooks running Linux continue to catch on, the instant on Linux environments continue to catch on, then ISVs will eventually get the message and start porting their software to Linux. Will it be a quick or easy transition? I don’t think so, but I do believe that the transition will happen. The nice thing is that ISVs who have Mac version of their software will have a much easier time than the Windows only shops, since system calls for Mac OS/X are very similar to Linux, both having their roots in UNIX.

It may be that we’re beginning to move toward a world in which the choice of an operating system may not be a major consideration for many users. With the rise of virtualization software (Fusion, Parallels, Boot Camp, etc.) and the hardware similarities between PCs and Macs, it may not be long until the OS doesn’t really matter much anymore. You will simply run whichever OS is required for the application software that you want to use. In five years, it will be your choice of applications that matters, not which OS they run under, since you may be able to essentially run any or all of them simultaneously on the same machine, whether it be a PC, a Mac or something else. At present, this is a bit of hassle and expense, but this situation could certainly change in the near future.

From Jon Fortt: I said it will be the first major OEM (besides Apple) to offer a non-Windows product at retail during this era. Much different.

What? Dell is a major OEM. It has been offering non-Windows products at retail for a couple of years now. Maybe you need to check your dictionary for definitions of “OEM” and “retail?”

From Jon Fortt: I don’t consider Asus to be a major maker. Acer is, but you’d be hard pressed to find their Linux netbooks at retail in the U.S….

As far as Acer netbooks at Wal-Mart, if you’d have evidence that there’s wide retail availability of Acer netbooks, I’d happily concede that. It doesn’t at all undermine my larger point.

My daughter bought an EeePC for her schoolwork, and she loves it. I have used CentOS 5 on my main home computer for about a year, and find it quite a capable alternative to Windows. Even so, now and then something comes up that doesn’t work well on this computer, so I go to the XP machine in another room of the house. My sister and my in-laws wouldn’t do well without their casino games, which are Windows only. And here at the office, we would not be able to switch because our hardware vendors give us software the salesmen use to design power transmission solutions, and that software is Windows only.

I look forward to HP’s new offering, and if it ships with Ubuntu, I will either buy one, or a close competitor. I see room for both Windows and Linux in the home and hobbyist PC markets, and have no venom for any of you Windows, Linux, Mac, or Amiga folks.

Rock on!

Even thought we live in a capitalistic society, why do people seem to hate success. Microsoft unlike oil companies has philenthrop arm that does alot for the common good. I have Vista and lovit. I think many complaints come from people who are not computer proficient and cause themselves harm.

I’m certainly not a fan of uber-humungus monopolies, but there is one nice benefit to having MS products on 9 out of 10 computers… and that’s the fact that I can use 9 out of 10 computers in any enviroment for work or personal use and know exactly how to do what I need to do effeciently. Face it, Windows has become a part of us and it’s the product we are all familiar and accustomed to using.

Do we really want ump-teen different operating systems out there that all perform the same functions but in radically different ways? I’d venture to say not so much…

Too bad these companies have been offering Linux as the OS for over 2 years now. It has hardly made a dent. As for Mac OS, yeah it’s a threat but OS tied to hardware is only going to go so far before it hits a wall (12% market share IMO).

M$ isn’t going anywhere and Windows 7, so far, looks nice. If M$ delivers on it’s promises for it I think all this M$ is doomed talk will fade.

I am a happy Vista user. Far more stable then XP and it’s faster too once Superfetch learns your patterns. Anybody who still listens to the FUD out there needs to just go buy a Mac or the Linux based netbook and leave everybody else alone. But that’s beside the point.

I’m also a very happy Linux user, with Ubuntu being my distro of choice at the moment. Just moved to 8.10 RC last night and it’s pretty nice. I do all my VMware work under Linux because it’s better then doing it under Windows because the I can streamline and minimize the OS install to only what I need to do my work. Something I wish MS would give us. But Linux driver support flat out sucks.

Try getting a Broadcom wireless NIC (which is the Dell brand of wireless NIC) to run without using the ndiswrapper. It won’t happen. Try explaining how to do all of that to a non-tech savvy person and you’re in for a long day. Ubuntu has made good strides in making Linux far more user friendly but until all vendors start delivering quality Linux support the marketshare will never grow as rapidly as it could.

I’m also an avid supporter of OpenOffice. It’s a great piece of software but the business world is run by Office. OpenOffice’s achilles heel is the fact that its formatting isn’t the same as Word. That’s what keeps businesses from using it. You can’t write up a proposal in OpenOffice and send it to a potential customer who uses Word because the proposal opens up looking like a landfill. Plus there’s the issue of support and patches.

All that being said if anybody thinks MS is scared of a few people buying cheap Linux based netbooks/laptops for the sake of browsing the Internet and sending e-mail here’s a newsflash: MS could care less. Those same Linux netbooks/laptops will NEVER be a huge seller.

I haven’t even talked about gaming yet but I won’t get into it because I’d need a book to write it all.

There’s just too many strikes against Linux right now to really gain any serious speed. Every year somebody says the sky is falling and that Linux will rule over Windows this year and every year Linux gains minimal amounts of marketshare to the point of its not worth mentioning.

Bottom line is use what OS you want and be happy but be prepared to live with your choice. Who cares what the next guy is using it doesn’t affect you.

This headline appears almost as often as “stock market falls – should you sell all your stocks?”

Linux has been an option on new PCs for about 10 years. Every time I install the latest flavor of a Linux desktop, I marvel at it’s pretty wallpaper and it’s Windows-like interface. However, when it comes to deploy these for the users in my network, I wouldn’t dream of teaching them all to use something besides windows. I want to keep my job as Technology Manager.

“PC makers move closer to a post-Windows world” is like saying “The North American Techtonic plate is moving closer to Asia”

There are too many flavors of Linux in the market. Too many incompatibility issues between the distro’s to mention. The sometimes is the issue with opensource programs. They go in too many diffrent directions.

Well I think if you step back we had programs and OS’s prior to Windows. Some people used windows because frankly it was easy to use and cheaper than Macs. Macs were regulated to art and education. However as prices have came down and you can put mac OS on intel processors that changed. What does someone realistically need for computing? Well it’s pretty much the following: desktop publish (office type apps), ability to go online – email and maybe video included…
I don’t find it to be that hard to do this with other formats…

If you think the article is about linux dethroning Microsoft – read the article again. It’s basically saying Microsoft has significant competition in the market place and the market place is willing to try it out.

After what I’ve put up with using VISTA…I will consider Linux or Apple operating systems.

To this day, I am shocked that Microsoft could have put out an operating system that has so seriously reduced my productivity.

Funny. The use of Linux on this HP laptop motivated an article about dethroning Microsoft. By a big margin, Microsoft’s loss of market share is to Apple, not Linux so that any actual dethroning process has almost nothing to do with Linux. The babble by the rabble is loud and rabid but the real money says something quite different.

I’m an advocate of open source and Linux but something has got to change. Open source is a great but incomplete idea. It needs a useful business model for developing software to displace commercial tools before it can play any kind of dethroning roll. I have a small business and I love the idea of open source software but based on hard lessons I now buy commercial tools when available.

A viable open source desktop operating system is no longer the primary challenge for open source. The primary challenge is and has been to incentivize development and support of applications that meet real needs. For my purposes this isn’t happening and I see no real movement to find a solution to the problem. The debate within the open source community about a workable business model is over. Richard Stallman’s argumentation skills have prevailed for the most part. There have been some positive changes but its not nearly enough. Open source isn’t changing its basic business model in a way that provides what I need.

The incentive for both developing and supporting a significant software tools over long time periods has to be big financial reward. The current model has worked only for a few applications but there are only a very few and of those few some of the most notable ones were those developed by Mr. agenda (Stallman). The gnu public license needs a lot more work because in spite of Stallman’s arguments it isn’t delivering.

The article actually mentions that the $20 gets you XP not Vista.

Every time Linux comes up in the news, there are folks who come out of the woodwork to rehash the accepted wisdom that Linux is only for geeks and will never make it because it doesn’t support games, etc.

They are missing the point. This article is clearly stating that Windows isn’t going away, but the monopoly is. There are numbers to back this up; Linux-based netbooks are being sold by the cartload, and not just to geeks. I know some very non-technical people who have bought the Dell mini-9 or eeePC with Ubuntu and are very happy with it.

As for games, gamers need to wake up and realize they are a niche audience. An awful lot of people have no interest in “Fragging” the bad guys in vivid 3D or playing overblown D&D. We just need to email, type documents, and surf the web, or play any of the thousands of “normal” games that don’t require a $1k video card and a liquid-cooled cpu.

And for the love of humanity, before you criticize Linux again on the basis of your 10-year-out-of-date knowledge of it, please download a copy of Ubuntu 8.10 and check it out. It’s free, after all.

Far superior of any operating system is the Amiga operating system! Completely idiot proof!..Try an Amiga computer and see for yourself!

Here’s a simple question for everyone. Send your boss a report from home. How do you send it? As an Open Office doc? Even the translated word versions look like crap. The business world runs on MS Word, Powerpoint and Excel. It’s just too much of a pain in the ass to work in a different system every day.

And the gamers mention below is HUGE. Game Developers will be pissed if they have to add a Linux format. Plus, not that many people had Vista problems on new computers, it was all the people that tried to upgrade. I will find it interesting if they offer a greatly discounted Windows 7 to Vista users though. That would be a very good idea.

Jon Fortt,
Using “…post-Windows world” in the title is reminiscent to the NeoCon’s use of “post-911 world,” and, at least in your case, is a good use of the term because, in my opinion, Steve Ballmer’s “Monkey Dance” can be in some sense likened to Bush’s gross failure to protect America on 911; After each event, we allowed ourselves to regard the respective worlds (i.e., Microsoft and Earth) more stringently and are also permitted to apply a somewhat radical analysis to the two.

This article misses the point: Many users will embrace non-Windows based PCs because they HATE, LOATHE, DETEST Vista. And that loathing of Vista is why the Apple commercials hit home so well. Saving $20 to buy a Linux-based PC is not the point. People will buy the Linux PC to avoid being forced to use Windows Vista. And they can download the Firefox browser and Open Office to get the applications they really need, instead of all that garbage software that comes loaded up on Vista PCs.

Fred Norris,
Thank you for the correction, yes, it’s Steve Ballmer, not what I called him, Bill Balmer. In the heat of developing the idea, I lost track of his name. Thanks again.

Dell has been providing computers with linux operating systems for a while now. so HP is not going to be the first. I am happy to see some choice out there in software again.

Do any of you really think that ANY OS that does not seriously support gamers will EVER end up being anything but a bit player in history ? The virtual world of today “is” the real world of tomorrow, and those that do not know how to “play” today will not know how to live in what comes next. Fortunately, or unfortunately, some folks in MS understand what the rest of you seem to be pretty much blind too ? You and I providing the brains behind the curtains of reality is close to it’s last act and the new actors are not “us”. So get yourself a good copy of XP or VISTA, pick up a copy of WOW and learn to negotiate before it is too late.

Rick Crocker Wrote:

Gates and Microsoft just happened to be in the right place at the right time ……. and IBM handed them the universe (not believing in their own product) …… the need for existing software kept other OS’s out of the game ……. it was just a fluke …… luck …… but its time for MS’s arrogance to be a thing of the past …..

Posted By Rick Crocker, Washington, NC : October 30, 2008 9:08 am

Hey Rick-Yes Msft was in the right place-at the right time-but IBM was FORCED to “hand them the universe” as you say by the US Gov due to the antitrust suits whcih really began in 1957. As part of these settlements, IBM was not allowed to ship a pc with their own op system on it. Therefore, they had to contract out for a separate system, and that’s where Bill gates came in. Also, IBM’s OS/2 was a better product by the time windows95 came out, but by that time Bill threatened to pull the windows liscense on any pc maker who would want to ship their pc’s with OS2. This all came out in court. How do I know this? I was working for IBM at that time, and rememember the whole debacle…

For more than two decades we have heard/read these same stories…, about the late/great/est MS slayer.
Like “Beta”-to-the-max, no puns intended, they may have actually been better, but they did not survive.
As a MS re-seller, we know as well as anyone that MS is not perfect, sometimes slow to market, and often misses. But, they DO get there.
Every time idiot like you tell U.S. about something better than MS, they read it, and change.
Just maybe, if you would shut the Puck up…, we would be rid of them, once and for all…, of U.S.

As the market leader, Microsoft simply lost touch with the market. Vista has very poor QA and as they have diversified their products to generate revenue they have failed to maintain compatibility between all products creating a disjointed product line. I consistently have issues with Vista after every update since it seems testing is lacking before releasing new updates. They can’t even get MSN to play well with IE which is indicative of a systemic core management problem. It is imperative that all products work seamless within the same family yet concentrating upon derivatives such as the pleathora of IE versions, MSN, Office, Outlook, Outlook Express, etc… none of which play well with one another as their greatest creation has been confusion. I omit mention of Vista because it is a complete cluster flock!!!

As the article is entitled, the PC World is moving closer to a post-Windows world. The end result is the Microsoft is Microsoft not because it created Windows, but because it was able to out manage, out smart, and under cut everyone else. What makes you think Microsoft won’t create its own “Linux/Unix” bases operating system and continue dominating the market? Sure it goes against everything they’ve done in the past, but they are Microsoft! Always thinking ahead of the game.

HP is doing a favour to MSFT by telling the masses that Windows will only cost $20 more than Linux. Truth is that only a few laptops will be made with Linux and even fewer will be sold with Linux. Majority will stay with MSFT.

Everyone is aware of the problems with MSFT. Most of us have no clue about the problems with Linux. On top problems with Linux can vary depending on how its code is modified.

I will still bet on the devil that I know.

Gates and Microsoft just happened to be in the right place at the right time ……. and IBM handed them the universe (not believing in their own product) …… the need for existing software kept other OS’s out of the game ……. it was just a fluke …… luck …… but its time for MS’s arrogance to be a thing of the past …..

“I throw out Windows from my home computer 3 years ago and don’t want to go back. Its goodbye to spyware, viruses – no more defragging etc. Now I actually find it difficult to install programs in Windows now that I am spoilt by Kubuntu !”

Sounds like someone wasn’t staying up to date with protection and maybe visiting too many free adult sites trying to save a buck. No viruses hear in 9 years of Windows. I leave my desires to a system that I could care less what I get on it. This linux laptop is not much to write home about, its made out more than it is. Take for example MSFT’s server division. They have been competing with alot more than itself in that space and they have been gaining market share? And when it comes to desktops, they need some less market share to keep others off their backs and they make money off it in the process, ie Mac Office, which retails for more than an OS does.

John Dingler, his name is Steve Ballmer, not Bill Balmer.

are you iTarded techno noobies that braindead??

microsoft on a death-spiral..?!?!

do you really expect MS to just die off?? then you’ve been out of touch with technology alot more than your noob comments suggest.

MS WILL NOT BE SPIRALING OUT OF EXISTENCE.

i wonder what your lame predictions for MS will be ten years from now when you look back and, once again, notice your outlook was as bent and twisted out of reality as the ‘elephant mans’ spine.
(hold that thought…i really don’t care what your lame predictions are)

now i’ve loved a good ‘unix’ flavor and even liked macs for over 20 years but that does not make me blinded to the fact that MS will be here for as long as we are alive….PERIOD

open your eyes you iTarded noobs….i know there are alot of you out there that don’t really comprehend the most basic of technologies, but that’s no excuse for your lemming type blind following and nearsightedness of the future.

in fact, i know the only thing that will be in a death-spiral, much as it’s done since you were born, is your brain power.

(oooops…is that drool dripping down your chin and a glazed over ‘deer in the headlights stare’ you have there?)

welcome back to your world!

It is perhaps indicative that the only anti-Linux comment so far comes from Washington State.

I use the ASUS EEE as pretty much my daily machine though I also have a Wondows PC in the house.

Apart from playing Games there is nothing I cannot do in normal use very easily using the Linux Laptop. I even created a presentation using it that helped get me my current job of a IT Support Manager.

Linux is still a bit abstruse, but so is Windows when you get away from the eay stuff, and alot of the easy stuff is only easy because of familiarity rather than anything else.

For many many years, since the days of DOS, MSFT has been able to dictate terms to PC Manufacturers. I am not totally convinced that those companies are embracing Linux with feverish glee, but at least I think it becomes a bargaining chip to equalise the relationship,

Great piece! Thanks.

>The Post-American World: This is not about the decline of Microsoft, but rather the rise of everyone else.

powerful

Interesting I can’t use Kubuntu’s native browser to post a comment… Fortune’s tech folks need to read the story, and upgrade.

The real comment is that MS may have money in the bank, but they cannot match the man hours going into Linux in all of its flavors. Kubuntu/Ubuntu, for example, hosts 25,000+ program packages in the repository installable with a click. The numbers of people behind those packages (3 to 5 each, some with 100s) far surpasses MS total employment, and most of the MS folks are salesmen, or tech folks getting in each other’s way.

All metrics that favored MS for the past decade now favor Linux. This is why HP and others are shipping Linux. They know they will eventually be doing most of their business on this platform.

Of course it’s correct to suggest that Microsoft is on a “death spiral.” It’s just that the spiral is not yet angled down steeply, but it’s angled down nevertheless, and has been bending further down in a period of time more and more.

Proof aplenty lies inside and outside of Microsoft. I will not list them here, but I will point out a comic/tragic event that occurred at a Microsoft developer’s conference where Bill Balmer did a desperate dance on stage to motivate himself and his developers. The dance has become known in computer technology lore as the “Monkey Dance.” It is becoming the signifier of company’s decline.

Why should it be?

Let’s take a look at how historians regard the very tail end of the process of the West’s decline: While there was no single blunder or act by any emperor that cleaved the Empire in half, and transformed the Western Roman Empire into a patchwork of Medieval municipalities, there was an important event, at the time seemingly, relatively insignificant in how the West was being administered. It was the deposition in 476 AD of the last Western “emperor,” Romulus Augustulus. (By the way, it was by Odovacar, king of the Goths, who had previously assumed the primacy of Italy; and the emperor was by then was a mere puppet, a closeted boy who was kept in lavish lifestyle in a villa in order to preserve at least ceremonial appearances.)

In the same way that historians now associate the date of the deposition of the emperor with the end of that half of the empire, contemporary commentators of technology associate the beginning of the end of Microsoft with the relative insignificant but grotesque motivational Monkey Dance performed by Bill Balmer of Microsoft.

By extension, I hope that historians in general ascribe a publicly observed event that coincided with the decline of a company to be the signifier of that decline, and call it the Monkey Dance. They might say, “You know, that company did the Monkey Dance on (such and such a) day and year.”

Everything was fine until you quoted Enderle. Nothing brings down an article a couple notches down the credibility scale like quoting a hack from the Enderle Groups which only consists of Enderle, his wife and his dog.

Love the headline. Would read again.

Asus says returns on their EEE PC products are no higher with Linux than with Windows. Hopefully this will bear out with HP, Dell, Lenovo and Acer. Of the top 5 laptop makers, only Toshiba fails to ship with Linux today. These four control more than half of the market.

Asus also says that they make EEE netbooks with Windows and Linux in equal numbers, but only the Windows ones are on the shelf because the Linux ones are hard to keep in stock. Make of that what you will.

Since the free software seems to be such a market driver here it seems to make little sense to limit the choices to the platforms defined as netbooks by Microsoft and Intel. Manufacturers can expand their Linux offerings to the full range, rather than limiting it to the cheapest builds with little risk. Larger screens with higher resolutions are definitely in order.

The Atom processors are 64 bit. The next generation is dual core. This low watt performer is a lot of fun to use and just the thing for countries where power infrastructure could use some help. I look forward to seeing where they go with it.

My experience with computers is extensive and certainly Microsoft has been dominant on the desktop for a very long time. However, both personally and with our company, we migrated from Windows about 10 years ago. We are exclusively Debian GNU Linux now and our desktop experience is richly more dependable than any windows ever was. With the look and the power of modern computing expectations fulfilled, we know what a powerful computer should look and feel like. Yes the years of experience is a factor in this but the system must first be capable. The Debian platform which is the heart of Ubuntu for it application packages is 20,000 plus programs and applications strong. lets put it another way, it is Linux that is the ultra dominant OS in top 500 supercomputing by a factor of 85%… Unix-Linux mix computers fill in the rest to 99%. So as such is the case for its speed and reliability… It really can make a desktop computer rock. There the future can be seen. Linux is the future.

TFA:”Windows still appears on nine out of 10 PCs that ship today, and practically mints money for its parent company; last quarter the Windows Client division turned in $4.2 billion in sales, up slightly from a year ago.”

THE latest 10-Q SEC filing from M$:”Client revenue increased reflecting growth in licensing of Windows Vista. Revenue from commercial and retail licensing of Windows operating systems increased $125 million or 22%. OEM revenue decreased $46 million or 1% while OEM license units increased 8%. The decline in OEM revenue reflected the four percentage point decrease in the OEM premium mix to 71% as well as changes in the geographic and product mixes. Based on our estimates, total worldwide PC shipments from all sources grew 10% to 12%, driven by demand in both emerging and mature markets.”

If M$’s client units rose 8% while the production of PCs rose 10-12%, does that not mean M$ is only selling licences for 75-80% of PCs these days? The monopoly is sliding seriously into the pit.

Emerging markets like the netbook do not need or want M$’s stuff. It is bloated, bug-ridden and more expensive than GNU/Linux.

Dell is a major manufacturer and has the Dell Mini 9 with Linux as well as three other desktops/laptop lines they launched last year thanks to their Ideastorm website…
Asus has sold 4-5 million EEE’s in one year. Acer sold 2 million ones in their first quarter and 1 million in September. To give you an idea ot those numbers, in their record setting first quarter, Apple sold 1.4 million laptops. If Apple is a major then so are Asus and Acer based JUST on their netbooks sales, never mind the rest of their lines. As for availability, the Acer One w/ Linpus Linux Lite is found at Best Buy, Futureshop (in Canada) and Staples among others.
And to finish off the numbers game. Linux pre-installs have gone from almost zero to 2.8% of the UK pre-installed OS on laptops and these numbers came from June when many manufacturers hadnt yet release so the Acer One’s and Dells werent counted. 2.8% doenst sound a lot but that’s a stones throw from Apple’s 4.2% of the UK market. When numbers come back after this summers onslaught of netbooks (a specialized site claims there are over 60 models to choose from), it is guaranteed that Linux will move ahead of Apple in this field. All that with no marketing, no commercials or great gala launches.

Paul Levens, Manchester,UK>Stowe,VT

Well, let’s face it, the only software that *needs* Microsoft anymore is DirectX games. For anything else, there are good (usually better) alternatives aplenty for Mac & Linux, and given the far better performance and security of either of those platforms, non-gamers have good incentive to switch.

HP & other OEMs are simply recognizing that and taking advantage of it.

Do you not consider Asus and Acer to be major computer makers? They both have Linux based netbooks available in retail stores.

From Jon Fortt: I don’t consider Asus to be a major maker. Acer is, but you’d be hard pressed to find their Linux netbooks at retail in the U.S. Perhaps I should have specified geography; Europe is quite a bit ahead on this one.

I’d watch out for MS: it’s a cash-cow and cash-rich company: they could lay down a few billions and turn the tables around, again. I hope they do, so we can move on to the next Windows 95 block buster, which we all secretly love, don’t we ? it’s an American Icon, along with Intel, HP and Dell, the late Compaq and AMD… QED.

I throw out Windows from my home computer 3 years ago and don’t want to go back. Its goodbye to spyware, viruses – no more defragging etc. Now I actually find it difficult to install programs in Windows now that I am spoilt by Kubuntu !

I look forward to buying a PC without the ‘Microsoft Tax’ so that I can get rid of their garbage and install Linux instead.

One should also take a look at Japan – the entire Japanese tech production of computers, industrial controls, digital cameras and camcorders, communications, display and printers, etc. Japan continues to be a gigantic very high tech OEM. Does any of their thousands of products use Windows. Hell NO!!

I have the current incarnation of the HP Mini Notebook and mine came pre-installed with Linux. I can not imagine anyone (even the more tech savvy types, of which I am one) being able to do their daily work on that implementation of Linux. Maybe there are better distributions of Linux that HP could have chosen, but the SUSE Linux that came pre-installed was a total disaster. Unusable in every way.
So I installed Windows XP instead and now I love the HP Mini and will certainly buy the new version when it is released next year. It is a great mini portable machine, but it’s greatness only shines with a real consumer OS such as XP, not with Linux.

Microsoft is aware of the danger of having “other” operating systems gain traction, and has been fighting Linux tooth and nail for years, mostly by their marketing department. Linux developers, on the other hand, have been concentrating on incrementally improving Linux, and the result now is that you and I have a robustly secure and easily adapted alternative to the Microsoft monopoly.

Microsoft’s profitability paradigm – the Big Bang model – is obsolete. It’s time for the new species to take over the IP environment.

i believe hp bought neoware, which had both msft and linux based thin laptops. these laptops connected via rdp/ctxs to terminal server. msft might not be as out of it as many think. this would allow linux based clients to access msft apps. Lower client fees, might make use of msft apps more palatable and widespread. Use of on line-hosted apps would probably lead to an immediate increase in software money for msft vs free booted copies.

I think it is wishful thinking by CNN (Of course it is CNN, do they ever write anything nice about MSFT?)

Wow, talk about clueless. HP will not be the first to push a non-windows product. Dell has been offering linux based notebooks and desktop PCs for the better part of this year before drastically reducing this offer ~2 months ago due to lack of demand.
The rest of the article doesnt exactly have much merit either…

From Jon Fortt: I said it will be the first major OEM (besides Apple) to offer a non-Windows product at retail during this era. Much different.

Microsoft is here to stay. Not its OS monopoly. Those days are over.
It is clear and simple: Tech is no longer only about the desktop computer.
Tech is broader, now you even got a computer in your pocket with iPhone.
You have mini computers, the cloud and who knows what else… TV maybe???
I don’t know who’ll be the dominant force. I just know it’s a new game.

Maybe because Microsoft has NOT had an original innovative product EVER. It bought DOS from Seattle Computer, it “pimped” IE (Netscape), Word (Wordperfect), and had so many botched projects its scary (NT, Zune, Vista.

If a company has 90% market share, and its stock prices is stuck in a 20-30 trading range for over four years, there IS a problem.