From dealing with users on a day-to-day basis, most with little or no computer experience, it appears to me that most people stick with whatever OS is loaded on the machine when they purchase it. One of the first questions that I ask any user is "what operating system are you using?". Often, I have to explain what an operating system is... and 50% of the users I deal with know they use Windows, but don't know which version.
This sort of mindset amongst the average, non-technically minded, user seems to suggest that if more major desktop computer retailers sold systems with Linux pre-loaded on them, its ability to compete with Windows would increase a bit. Most people just want something they can take home, turn on, and do what they want to do with it. Really, the same sort of attitude one has towards a telephone: plug it in, dial the digits, order a pizza, no fuss, no muss.
I've seen existing installations of Linux that are just that easy to use before. It's certainly not impossible for a manufacturer to load Linux onto a machine, and make it easy for a user to get a lot of out of the box fuctionality. I don't believe there's any rule that states that the things that make the Windows OS usable for non-technically minded people are the same things that make it a lousy OS.
I'm sure it's been said before (millions upon millions of times, and by smarter people than me), but I'd certainly like to see machines running Linux up on the same shelf at CompUSA as all those Windows PC's.
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From dealing with users on a day-to-day basis, most with little or no computer experience, it appears to me that most people stick with whatever OS is loaded on the machine when they purchase it. One of the first questions that I ask any user is "what operating system are you using?". Often, I have to explain what an operating system is... and 50% of the users I deal with know they use Windows, but don't know which version.
This sort of mindset amongst the average, non-technically minded, user seems to suggest that if more major desktop computer retailers sold systems with Linux pre-loaded on them, its ability to compete with Windows would increase a bit. Most people just want something they can take home, turn on, and do what they want to do with it. Really, the same sort of attitude one has towards a telephone: plug it in, dial the digits, order a pizza, no fuss, no muss.
I've seen existing installations of Linux that are just that easy to use before. It's certainly not impossible for a manufacturer to load Linux onto a machine, and make it easy for a user to get a lot of out of the box fuctionality. I don't believe there's any rule that states that the things that make the Windows OS usable for non-technically minded people are the same things that make it a lousy OS.
I'm sure it's been said before (millions upon millions of times, and by smarter people than me), but I'd certainly like to see machines running Linux up on the same shelf at CompUSA as all those Windows PC's.