The year of the Linux desktop has finally arrived

Stan Beer
Sunday, 04 November 2007 11:58

Opinion and Analysis

First, Everex has packaged up the latest version of Ubuntu, release 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon), into a neatly pre-installed plug and play desktop system, called gOS, that any novice user vaguely familiar with a mouse-driven graphical computer interface could use straight off. Looking at screenshots of the gOS interface, with the horizontal row of application icons across the bottom, is reminiscent of the Mac OS X interface. The icons include links to popular web applications and destinations, as well as a range of open source or free proprietary applications, such as OpenOffice and Skype. Take a look at gOS here.

Second, Everex has pre-installed gOS on a sensationally priced desktop box it calls the Green gPC - green not because the interface has a green background but because it is energy efficient.At US$199 without monitor, the gPC is not the most highly configured PC on the planet, but it has everything in the way of connectivity and features that most average desktop users would need. That includes six USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet port,  1.5GHz, VIA C7-D Processor, 512MB SDRAM, 80GB Hard Disk Drive, DVD-ROM/D-RW Optical Drive, serial and parallel ports and everything else you would expect to find with a standard desktop. The specs are here.

The latest news is that Everex plans to bring out a gOS notebook early next year for less than $300.

It would tempting to say that the gPC is a game changer, a disruptive force in the PC space. However, it's not the gPC or even gOS that is the game changer. The game changer is what Everex has done with Ubuntu and more generally Linux. What this relatively minor player in the PC space has done could be emulated without too much trouble by other PC makers and the result to the end user would be the lowering of the cost of computing - hardware and software - by an order of magnitude. Instead of paying $500 or $600 for an average desktop Windows PC plus the same again for proprietary software they think they need, users could be paying less than $200 for the lot if they take the route Everex has mapped out.

In case anyone thinks I'm beating the Ubuntu drum a little too loudly, if anyone manages to package any of the other Linux distros in the way that Everex has packaged Ubuntu, well fine, as long as it works for the end user.

There are of course skeptics who believe that the Everex gPC will flop in the same way as previous attempts to bring Linux PCs to market. Looking at the gOS interface, with the row of familiar icons across the bottom of the screen, it's hard to see this being the case. Computing is one area where familiarity does not necessarily breed contempt and, at $199, it's difficult to be contemptuous of the Everex gPC.

The era of the Linux desktop is upon us and bring it on I say.