Stan Beer
Friday, 23 November 2007 12:15
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
The market has spoken and it clearly wants a consumer Linux computer. The sub-notebook Asus Eee PC has not been able to meet demand and is predicted to sell up to 5 million units worldwide next year. If that comes true a single product will have on its own shifted consumer Linux market share upwards a notch or two. However, there is a threat on the horizon for this break-through Linux product - and it comes from Asus itself.
Taiwan-based Asus has promised to bring a Windows
version of the Eee PC out before the end of 2007. Why could that be a
threat to the Linux version already on the market? The answer is
obvious.
Consumers are not interested in what operating system a computer is
running. Unfortunately, they don't even care all that much about which
operating system offers the best security. All they're interested in
is what a computer can do. And without a doubt they'll have more
applications at their disposal with Windows. In many instances,
applications common to both platforms, such as Skype, are more advanced
on Windows.
This is not the fault of the Linux development community. There are
plenty of good products developed specifically for the Linux platform.
Unfortunately, however, many of the most popular software products for
PCs have simply not been developed for Linux.
Many well-known software companies have only just got round to
developing versions of their product for the Mac, which has a
considerably larger market share on the consumer desktop than Linux.
It's doubtful whether Asus Eee PC owners will care that they can't get
Quicken for their new computer. However, one application in particular
could be a Linux deal breaker for a consumer faced with a choice
between a Linux and Windows version of the Asus box. And the big irony
is that this particular software product is free. While it may be free,
however, it is anything but trivial.
CONTINUED
