According to the Windows Team Blog the sales of netbooks with Windows has gone from under 10% of unit sales during the first half of 2008 to 96% as of February 2009. I wonder why that is……
The Windows team Blog arrogantly says : “When they realize their Linux-based netbook PC doesn’t deliver that same quality of experience, they get frustrated and take it back.”
I would question the term “same quality of experience”, because Linux does not strive to give the user same quality of experience as Windows, a Linux user has a completely different experience, and personally it’s a better one, but it’s like switching religion, … “leave your old ways behind” which is exactly what every new Mac User does (this is the only good thing I have to say about them).
Most of the returned Netbooks in 2008 had Linux installed. I don’t think it’s a case of dissatisfaction it’s a case of “I didn’t research before buying it and just went for the cheapest”. Switching Operating Systems is a process, is a migration. It’s naive to think that you can just jump from one to the other and that’s it, you cannot just assume that the other OS will have the “you are dumb and I will do everything for you” wizards Windows has.
Windows claims to “just work with peoples stuff”
- Windows supports nearly 3,000 printers, more than 700 digital cameras, more than 240 webcams and more than 180 digital video cameras.
- Windows supports the broadest array of PC applications and games.
Well this is down to the manufacturers really. Remember the issue with periferals and Vista? I remember having countless users tell me that their practically new printers would not work with Vista.
Mobile broadband on Linux
I think a big difficulty for Linux users has been with Mobile Broadband, most 3G Mobile Broadband devices will work with Linux but not “out of the box”, and that has frustrated many users. By the ammount of hits I have had on my post about the Huawei E156g I can tell this is a big issue, although the solution is very easy.
I have used Linux for the last 8 years and in my opinion Linux is as good OS as (if not better than) those of Microsoft or Apple. I know what I want a computer to do and I prefer having to go out of my way to make sure it does it the way I want it than having the computer tell me what I need and how I need to do things. My advice for anyone thinking of buying a Netbook or any computer with Linux is:
- Try it first. Use a live CD on your current machine or use a Virtual Machine.
- Try different distributions like OpenSuse, Ubuntu, Mandriva, PSLinuxOS
- Search for specific applications for your specific needs
- Test your periferals
Further reading: Ten reasons why Linux will oust Windows
Technorati Tags: Huawei E156G, Linux, Mobile Broadband, Netbooks, Windows
