Dual boot Macs will help Linux: 10 reasons

Stan Beer
Saturday, 15 April 2006 19:45

IT Industry - Development

3) A Shift in Mindset.

For most computer users, a PC and Windows are one and the same thing.
For many users, Microsoft Office is also synonymous with Windows and the PC, and they often use the term 'Windows' to refer to their word-processor or web browser, or 'Word' to refer to Windows. For most users, a computer and Microsoft are one and the same thing.

A major increase in the use of any alternate platform therefore breaks the hegemony that Microsoft has. It will force a shift in people's mindset. They can't simply think of a PC implying Windows, as an increasing number of their friends have a PC which runs a non-Windows platform. They can't think of a word-processor being Word, as many home users with Macs will use Apple's word processor, not Microsoft's.

4) Expanding the Comfort Zone.

I can't prove it, but gut-feel tells me that any user who migrates from Windows to the Mac will be far more comfortable in subsequently migrating from an OS X interface to a Linux interface (KDE/Gnome). It's fairly self-obvious really: if you've discovered that a Windows interface isn't the only interface, if you've had to re-tool your mind and muscle memory to shift to one alternative, any subsequent jump is far, far less threatening.

But why would OS X users jump to Linux and not back to Windows? Well, many of them might like the fact that they suddenly hit fewer bit-rot problems on a non-Windows PC. They might like the fact that they hit far fewer virus, spyware and key-logger problems now that they've moved away from Windows. They might like the freshness of difference a non-Microsoft platform and mindset brings. They might like the access to several thousand free open source apps which have been ported to run on the Mac's X Window interface. There are many good reasons.

Time to quote Oliver Wendell Holmes: "The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of larger ideas, never returns to its original size."

Regardless of why various new OS X users might jump over to Linux, it seems likely that many of them, if they do decide to jump off the Mac, are likely to try Linux before returning back to Windows.

Therefore, any increase in the Mac's mindshare and adoption will also raise those users' comfort levels to perhaps try Linux.

5) Bursting Microsoft's Momentum Bubble.

One of the reasons Microsoft 'wins' so often in the marketplace is that the marketplace expects Microsoft to win. This therefore becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Anything which perturbs this process is a serious threat to Microsoft.

If, suddenly, Microsoft has a one-in-three chance of losing a desktop PC sale to Apple, the market will understand that Microsoft no longer commands complete control of the desktop market. That market is now open and in flux. It becomes easier for any alternative to play in this fluctuating market and compete against Microsoft. Linux is the prime alternative to gain in a fluctuating market, when that market perceives that Microsoft's momentum is impeded.

6) A Broader Price Spectrum.

While the new mini-Macs are a cool and well priced device, and Apple's laptops have historically been good overall value, much of the remainder of Apple's desktop range is out of the cost radar for many of the world's PC users.

Any initial push towards the Mac, by those who can afford it, may therefore serve only as promulgating a wave that Linux rides, due to its far broader price spectrum. By this I mean that while you can buy a US$500 Mac, you can't buy a $200 one. You can buy a US$200 Linux PC however, which more than suits most users.

7) Applications.

While the Mac comes with some cool and slick apps, it's not a patch on the breadth offered by any common user-oriented Linux distro. It's not likely that Apple will bundle a whole range of software which might be of interest to the corporate world, the small business world or the home market. Linux distribution vendors have no such qualms.

Therefore, if I want remote corporate desktop display client software for Linux, it will be there, out of the box. If I want an accounting package for my small business for Linux, it will be there, out of the box. If I want a recipe manager, or a music notation program or a thousand other educational or miscellaneous tidbits for Linux, it will be there, out of the box.

This is a major market benefit to many forms of consumers: "No need to download and install anything. Linux ships with 5,000 apps. It's likely that your needs are covered."

All you need is their attention, and getting them out of the Microsoft mindspace is the best way of getting that attention. The Mac can do this with aplomb.

8) But isn't Linux less friendly than Mac OS X?

Perhaps. In some ways. But none that really matter to most non-technical users. Sure, OS X looks slicker than Linux. But no, most users want only a handful of applications and have only a handful of functions they want to perform. And for most users, Linux performs these tasks just as effectively, if not as elegantly, as OS X does. Remember, many consumers buy home-brand product. Linux is the home-brand equivalent in their eyes.


9) It's the Vendors, Stupid.

While a resurgent Mac is wonderful for Apple which supplies both the hardware and system software, where does that leave the 5,000 other PC vendors from around the world? Nowhere, really.

If these vendors catch a whiff of change in the PC marketplace, with Microsoft's hegemony no longer looking unassailable, they have two options. One is to try and licence OS X from Apple. We've seen that disaster movie before, right? The other is to find an alternate platform, which is kinda not Windows and kinda like OS X: Linux.

10) Freedom.

In the end, it's all about freedom. And while OS X's core is based on the open source and libre Darwin Mach/BSD derivative, very little else is - there is very little freedom within the Mac space.

It's either Apple's way or the bye-way.

So, try as hard as you can to convince yourself that Apple is somehow not going to 'do a Microsoft' on its users. I've followed Apple in the marketplace for 26 years - I have no such expectations waiting to be dashed.

Also see
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