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Linux Reaches 32% Netbook Market Share
christian.einfeldt writes "Linux netbooks have captured 32% of the global netbook market, says Jeff Orr, an analyst with consumer computer research firm ABI Research. The largest share of netbook sales is in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, according to Orr. ABI's latest figures align with a statement by Dell executives in February of this year, to the effect that Linux netbooks comprised about 33% of Dell shipments of Dell Inspiron mini 9s netbooks. These data points cast doubt on claims by Microsoft that Windows XP has captured 98% of the netbook market (a figure Microsoft later revised to 93%). In an interview with DesktopLinux.com, Orr made clear that the 32% Linux netbook market share did not include either user-installed Linux or dual-boot systems, but was confined to just pre-installed Linux shipments."
I've tried and I've tried to find an Athlon Neo system WITHOUT Windows and I flat can't do it. Sure, a lot of the Intel ones have Linux, but even most of those have Windows on them. Seriously, if I can't find an Athlon Neo system without Windows it's not telling me people want to buy the Linux versions, it's telling me they "settle" for Linux, and I don't like that.
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Go to Officeworks, still half of their ASUS netbooks are Linux based. When the lovely sales assistant starts telling you about the evils of Linux, assure him you know what you're doing and head to the counter.
Even then they only have very low specs.
That's the point of a netbook.. and the reason why Linux is so popular on them.
Of course, you'll probably want to nuke the "linux" on them and put Ubuntu on it.
How we know is more important than what we know.
Funny that their favorite computer is the Dell Mini 9. It's not a very advanced machine, to the point that it een got discontinued once.
They brought it back though because it is very popular for the single reason that it has a reputation as being the most hackintoshable netbook there is. This implies that a lot of these netbooks are running more MacOS than linux.
Some people say "Yay! Linux on netbooks means more mainstream acceptance!" From what I've seen however, this isn't the case. Linux netbooks, from what I've encountered, are
* Generally more expensive than their Windows counterparts (with identical specs)
* Running some dodgy Linux distro that does nothing to help sell the benefits of running Linux and only provides headaches
* Often simply not available
With this being the current situation, I don't see there being anything to be proud of. Yes, it's better than several years ago when Linux wasn't available anywhere mainstream. That doesn't mean things are going well either.
Presumably 7 would be more manageable for common users to install on recent hardware than an OS that's eight years old.
If true (and I think it is), great! Still, why isn't there any research on this? If I were a netbook manufacturer, Microsoft, Apple or Mark Shuttleworth I would be VERY interested to learn how many of those who purchased my computer or OS are sticking with the default setup. Win7 might be easier to install, but I still don't see my dad buying or pirating a Windows disk and installing it himself. Do netbook buyers give Ubuntu a try before changing to Windows? What makes them decide to keep or ditch it?
Error 001
Security Scan and Virus Detection do not work with your operating system.
I totally agree with this. I have done a number of installations on hardware that pre-dated XP-SP3 using an XP disk with SP3 streamed in. Lots of hardware is not supported. I have even come across a laptop where the standard sound driver from the chipset manufacturer will work -- as long as you don't want to use the built-in speakers. The last install I did left me with a system with no working NICs. I ended up booting into Linux so that I could download the Windows network drivers onto the system.
After installing XP, you then have to install some applications, update it multiple times to get all the updates. Most Linux installs are way easier.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
I have seen the Netwalker from Sharp at every major electronics store that I have gone to in Tokyo recently (http://www.sharp.co.jp/netwalker/). It exclusively runs Ubuntu and is one of the smallest and cheapest netbooks you can get in a store.
Then there is always the Dell website. You can get even cheaper mini 10s from there. I have purchased 2 such machines for friends and family as return gifts (Okaeshi). Doubt either know they are running Linux, but they are plenty happy to have a convenient webbrowsing/Skyping machine.
I would say there is quite a bit of activity recently in this space in Japan, if you know where to look.
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
Its been said before, and Ill say it again-- Wine Is Not an Emulator. And its not just a tagline-- many things run near- or better-than- native speed-- I had World of Warcraft running on a dualboot, vista / ubuntu system. The vista system got 1/2 the FPS in directx mode than ubuntu, reading off of an NTFS partition using OpenGL and Wine.
In case thats not clear-- Vista, running its native graphics API on its native filesystem type, got 1/2 the FPS of a linux distro using the "secondary" API, a non-native filesystem, and so-called "emulation".