[Full-disclosure] windows future

[Paul Schmehl]

--On Friday, August 28, 2009 13:40:28 -0500 Rohit Patnaik <quanticle at gmail.com> 
wrote:

>
> To be fair, Linux has come a very long way in that regard. I purchased
> an Asus Eee 900 with Linux preinstalled, and everything worked right out
> of the box. Flash, Java, OpenOffice, the works. It was a vindication of
> my view that the real obstacle to Linux on the desktop isn't the user,
> but rather the OEM.
>
> With low-cost, low-power netbooks becoming more prevalent, OEMs are
> finding that the cost of the Windows license begins to take up a rather
> high percentage of the overall cost.  Therefore, many are preinstalling
> and preconfiguring Linux. At the same time, consumers are finding that
> application incompatibilities don't really matter for them, since the
> Linux equivalents are able to handle data coming from a Windows box with
> a minimum of fuss.

That's good news.  Once updating issues are resolved and Xorg becomes as good 
as Mac and Windows graphics (it's almost there now - it just doesn't quite have 
the "pop" or "wow factor" of Macs), the obstacles to migration (for the 
consumer) will be availability and the knowledge that an alternative exists. 
At that point I think we'll see Microsoft's market share begin eroding badly.

-- 
Paul Schmehl, Senior Infosec Analyst
As if it wasn't already obvious, my opinions
are my own and not those of my employer.
*******************************************
"It is as useless to argue with those who have
renounced the use of reason as to administer
medication to the dead." Thomas Jefferson