Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 2nd Nov 2009 23:59 UTC
Windows 7 has been out and about for little over a week now, and as it turns out, Microsoft's new baby is doing relatively well. That is, according to the figures by NetApplications: Windows 7 already reached the 3% mark this weekend, and is already closing in on the 4% mark.
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Member since:2006-01-06
Sure, but my point was, this is neither something that Linux distributors are doing wrong, nor something that Linux distributors can do anything to fix. Again, it makes about as much sense as me claiming that OS X is a technically inferior or flawed operating system because it won't load Amarok or XMMS or so. If you're saying that "people will never move to Linux, because they must have Windows apps..." well then fine, sure, but that's not a technical weakness in Linux.
It's also a self-fulfilling prophecy: software isn't ported to Linux, because it has a 1% market share... and it has a 1% market share because software isn't ported to it. OK then. This goes waaaaay on back to one of the original points in the earlier comments: Windows isn't ubiquitous because it's technically superior -- which it may or may not be -- but because it's already ubiquitous.
It's also a self-fulfilling prophecy: software isn't ported to Linux, because it has a 1% market share... and it has a 1% market share because software isn't ported to it. OK then. This goes waaaaay on back to one of the original points in the earlier comments: Windows isn't ubiquitous because it's technically superior -- which it may or may not be -- but because it's already ubiquitous.
I'm not blaming Linux for not having some software that many people find useful. It's no one's fault. But it does call into question the idea that "Linux is ready for the desktop." Until and unless these issues are addressed in some meaningful way, many people will conclude that Linux isn't ready. Sad, but true.
Member since:2005-07-02
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2009-02-19
Sure, but my point was, this is neither something that Linux distributors are doing wrong, nor something that Linux distributors can do anything to fix. Again, it makes about as much sense as me claiming that OS X is a technically inferior or flawed operating system because it won't load Amarok or XMMS or so. If you're saying that "people will never move to Linux, because they must have Windows apps..." well then fine, sure, but that's not a technical weakness in Linux.
It's also a self-fulfilling prophecy: software isn't ported to Linux, because it has a 1% market share... and it has a 1% market share because software isn't ported to it. OK then. This goes waaaaay on back to one of the original points in the earlier comments: Windows isn't ubiquitous because it's technically superior -- which it may or may not be -- but because it's already ubiquitous.
Edit: actually, it's interesting that you bring up OS X. Now, so far as I know, OS X still has application availability problems even today. I know my Mom's been affected by this even recently -- people have sent her documents in formats that do not have Mac editors. OS X is almost not even a stand-alone operating system any more: Windows Apps are so prevalent, and ports or equivalents for other operating systems are so rare, that many OS X installs either have a Windows dual-boot or a virtualized Windows guest for those (frequent!) times when you just have to be able to run Windows. So, this problem isn't Linux-specific: OS X suffers from it too, and it even uses the same two solutions, dual-booting or a Windows guest. People just object to dual-booting an OS X machine a lot less, for some reason (maybe because boot camp automates the process?).
Edited 2009-11-06 19:24 UTC