The Government has offered Australia's three mobile operators, and vividwireless, renewal of their existing spectrum allocated on 15 year licences in the late 90s and early 2000s at set prices, while the Government expects to rake in $3 billion.
Basically Joe and Jane consumer are not that interested
in a budget priced pre-configured Linux desktop box. Like it or not, if
they're going to buy a budget box for the home, it's most likely going to
be a Windows machine even if they have to pay the Windows tax. It may
not be the better option, but it's the one they and their kids know.
Unfortunately, the same thing may well hold true
for conventional notebook computers. The world is still waiting for the
Dell Unbuntu "experiment" to go global.
Perhaps it's time for the Linux crowd to sigh and accept the fact that
with a billion Windows PCs and a fast growing number of Macs already in
the consumer and business marketplace, the year of the Linux desktop
and notebook is as far away as ever. Vista haters (and in fact there
are plenty who don't hate Vista) are either staying with XP or moving
to Macs and there is no hard evidence to suggest that there has been a
significantly increased movement to Linux on desktops or conventional
notebooks of late. If there is, someone show it to me please and I'll
stand corrected.
On the other hand, put Linux into a form factor where it has distinct
advantages over Windows, then products running the "free operating
system" excel. The Asus Eee PC sub-notebook which is now blanketing the
world is a prime example. Asus has just released a more expensive model
running a cut down version of XP but the cheaper Linux version is
already selling like hot cakes, clearly demonstrating that it's a
machine for its time.
Consumers don't expect sub-notebooks to be able to do all the things
that desktops and larger notebooks can. What they want is a cheap,
handy, lightweight, compact computer that they can carry with them
anywhere, which still allows them to stay connected, be entertained and
even do some work. Linux, which is a much less bloated operating system
than Windows, doesn't require resource sucking anti-virus software, and
has a license that is free or very cheap (Xandros is not free) fits the
bill perfectly.
In such a cheap computer as the Eee PC, paying a significant percentage
of the cost extra for a crippled old version of Windows is ludicrous.
Therefore, maybe it's time for a new Linux catch-cry: 2008 is the year
of the Linux sub-notebook.
David Bass
| ComOps, a leading Australian provider of business software products and services, has won a competitive tender to deploy its Salvus safety, r…
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