MSI: Wind Doing Well, Linux Version Not So Much
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sun 5th Oct 2008 21:21 UTC
Hardware, Embedded Systems The netbook craze is currently in full swing, with these small laptops being advertised everywhere (at least here in The Netherlands); in fact, you can already get netbooks with 3G from the mobile phone carriers at severely reduced prices (but with a one or two year contract, of course). Netbooks are also welcomed by the Linux community as the break they've been waiting for: many netbooks are available with Linux pre-installed. One of the more successful (and powerful) netbooks out there is MSI's Wind, which is also sold under different brand and model names by other companies. In an interview with LaptopMag, MSI's Director of US Sales Andy Tung, however, has some bad news for those that believe the netbook will be the foot in the door that the Linux desktop has been waiting for.
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Dave_K
Member since:
2005-11-16

But many ordinary PC users do not actually have very demanding needs for such software: a basic text editor, email and a web browser is often all they need.


I think you're underestimating how many ordinary users have pet Windows apps that they don't want to do without. Lots of people deal with MS Office files, use a particular photo editor, love software like iTunes, etc. Convincing them to use Linux alternatives would be very difficult.

When their favourite software doesn't run on their Linux Netbook, they're going to take it back and look for something else.

Like already said, people are just more used to MS Windows. Actually many have no idea that there even exist completely different operating systems. Such people would find Mac OS X as "difficult" as Linux too, only because it is a bit different from MS Windows.


My experience does not support this claim. I know plenty of normal Windows users who've picked up a Mac and had a very easy transition. Mac OS is simply much easier to get to grips with than any current version of Linux.

Ubuntu is the distro that often gets recommended for newbies, yet I've seen some pretty experienced Mac/Windows users struggle with it and give up.

Take installing Flash for example. In Windows or Mac OS X it's a matter of following on screen prompts in the browser. Do that in Ubuntu and the user ends up with a tar.gz file that needs to be dealt with from the CLI. Even if they try to follow the instructions, there's a good chance they'll end up making a mistake, like downloading the i386 version for their 64bit system, and fail to get it working anyway.

Not a problem for experienced users, but this kind of thing trips up new users all the time. I don't think Windows/Mac users are used to having to track down tutorials, or deal with things like adding repositories to a package manager, just to get that kind of thing working.

Of course Windows has it's quirks too. The fact that people are used to it, or know someone who's familiar with its issues, does give it a big advantage. To compete on an equal level, Linux really needs to be unambiguously easier to setup and use. I'd argue that Mac OS X achieves that, while Linux doesn't come close.

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