Why 2008 is promising for the Linux Desktop

Well usually these kind of posts are long lists that act as link-bait (face it, its usually the case!) I just want to provide a little detail on the few reasons why I think that Linux could make it big in 2008. I’m not saying it will become the most-used operating system within a year because that would take some doing with various requirements needing to be perfected. So, here are some of the realistic reasons why it all looks very promising for Linux in 2008:

1. A new Computing Platform - 2007 has seen the Asus Eee PC become one of the most sought after Christmas gifts this festive season. Now, this PC is packed with power that provides a good punch and lets you perform all your basic needs of Internet access, PDA functionality and basic mail and document creation at a very reasonable price. So with sub-$400 PCs like this and with the sub-$300 notebooks coming in the near future, the need for a free operating system that performs these tasks is fulfilled with Linux. Now if Asustek plans to ship a million Eee PCs in Q1 ‘08 alone, the future is certainly bright for Linux.

Then there’s Walmart’s gOS PC that caused a real stir this year that costs $200 and sold out in 2 weeks of its launch on November 1, 2007. With more such startups likely to be made, it begs the question as to what Microsoft plans to do about such startups. More free Linux distributions bundled with PCs and more of OpenOffice bundled with these PCs. Then when you see things like Vista being included in the Top 10 terrible tech products of all time, you know it can’t be good for the Redmond lot.

2. Competition on Distrowatch - The competition for best Linux distribution rages on with several new distributions making the top 10 and more, like Mint and Sabayon. The big guns like Ubuntu, Fedora and openSUSE seem to have also met a strong match with PCLinuxOS and MEPIS. New releases could include new and stable features that would make almost any Linux distribution a very good option for desktop users at large. It also means making more strides when it comes to innovation and meeting the needs of the desktop user.

3. Innovation - Apple has probably led the desktop when it comes to innovation. Now I’m referring mainly to features that enhance the desktop experience and may or may not prove useful in every task done by a user. Compiz Fusion is great aesthetically and has some good accessibility features if you look harder at it. PulseAudio looks like a promising sound server backend for most Linux distributions. Desktop environment developers are rolling out up-to-date and stable releases of GNOME, KDE, Xfce and even popular window managers. KDE 4 seems to be the pick of the promising releases and though it seems likely that the initial reviews will not be “exceptional” but atleast good, the platform the KDE developers are building for the future with updated code and framework seem to make it a very promising candidate to take the Linux desktop by the storm.

4. Low-end Alternatives - Users are slowly realizing that Linux distributions are useful for old or low-end machines and with light desktop environments or window managers users can perform their necessary tasks within a limited hardware configuration. K.Mandla has some useful articles here and here, on what one can do to keep a computer running even when it seems worthy of trash. Its great when you stop think about the fact that you don’t have to buy a new PC to be your media centre.

5. Free Software - As I mentioned earlier, OpenOffice could experience widespread adoption with the low-priced PCs that are entering the market. The current state of free, open-source software is quite good with a lot of features that are generally present in their Windows or Mac counterparts. As the year goes by, there will probably be more innovative software being made. The release of KDE 4 will provide a new Qt 4 framework that will increase the perfomance of Qt-based software on Linux, especially for the PCs that have average memory specifications. The software needs of people from various artists are also being met with several distributions putting together software focused on development of music, video and imaging being made available to all.

The key aspect governing all of this, is awareness. Why does Linux seem to raise question marks among current destkop users? The most important reason that one could say today, is that there are still people who do not know that this free alternative exists or they have misconceptions about Linux. I don’t blame them because everyone wants their PC to “just work”, so as long as their PC is doing that, it seems that nothing will change and they will get on with it. However, with better marketing today like Dell’s Ubuntu powered PCs and more, it is likely that hardware manufacturers are going to continue and possibly step up their focus on hardware development for the Linux user. This means that a future for the Linux desktop is promising and as new adopters of PCs come around, the present ones may soon see that Linux is a viable option.

~ by SoftVision on December 28, 2007.