Who Says Desktop Linux Is Doomed?

by Sam Dean - May. 11, 2010Comments (11)

In only a few weeks, 2010 will be half over, and it's already clear that one widely backed technology prediction for the year has come true: the success of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system. For the Redmond software giant, Windows 7 has been a comeback story, following oceans of bad reviews and bad PR surrounding Windows Vista. However, people also predicted that Windows 7 would mean the end of the road for desktop Linux, as seen here. In truth, Windows 7 didn't even give Linux a flesh wound.

Back in January of 2009, in a piece that also suggested that Windows 7 would eat into Apple's desktop market share, The Inquirer wrote:

"If Microsoft had released Windows 7 instead of Vista there would have been no rise of Ubuntu or OSX. Now, alas, it is only a matter of time until people come back to the claws of the Vole. The Linux crowd were too busy talking about their superiority on the server and ignored the desktop to the OS's eventual doom."

The fact is, Windows 7 and Linux serve different types of users and markets, and Dana Blankenhorn has a good inventory of reasons why Ubuntu can compete with Windows here. I have only been impressed with Canonical's recent moves with Ubuntu, making it more graphical, easier to use, more compatible, and now massaging it into new, lightweight versions that have promise on netbooks.

Meanwhile, let's not forget that Google's Android operating system is Linux-based, and its upcoming Chrome OS for netbooks is Linux-based and was created with the help of the Ubuntu team. Android is an enormous success story, and is spreading out beyond smartphones, and Chrome OS holds much promise too.

While it's true that Linux doesn't have enormous desktop market share (W3Counter's data shows it at just under 2 percent share), let's not forget that Apple had only 5 percent of the desktop market for many years, and managed to innovate and lead in several market categories with that share. That's the thing about the operating system game: You don't have to be number one to succeed. For Linux, the future remains bright.

Image courtesy of Laserguided on Flickr.

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by Ceyhun Alyesil on May. 12, 2010

Linux has to meet with more people. Most of the users have no idea about what they are using and what are the other choices. If we can(we as linux users) show them other options like Ubuntu or any other distro (Pardus for my country) i think we can get more and more users. And to do that, Linux need more commercial and for that need money. To get that money need server editions and seeling support... its like circle of like :)

1 Votes

by an anonymous user on May. 12, 2010

All I Can say is, the i have used windows for over 25 years, And found the i was happy when XP came around. Then the infamous Vista came along promising new features and the rest of the fanfare hype that goes on with a new version of Win OS. Slowly the complaints of it's performance and how it was really a resource hog it really was... among other things we found charming about it....cough cough..... Anybody that actually tried it (Vista) knows that already. I did look for an alternate OS to use. I found linux and gave it a whirl, it was a bit challenging at first, but i persisted,now after 2 years of using it and implementing it at work as well, i can honestly say i would never change back to windows. It may be not all there yet to equal windows 100% but that is only a matter of time. I remember and editorial some time back that said "MS is a slow sinking ship", and i do believe that this Linux thing i stumbled upon and gave an honest go of it, is beginning to take a lot of momentum in the right direction. Give it a try and persevere .you won't regret it in the long run.

1 Votes

by gaudygo golf on May. 12, 2010

You could get a cable splitter and have one end into ur monitor and the 2 other ends going into the 2 computers. This may not be the best thing if you want to use both at once however.

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