Is 2008 the Breakthrough Year for Linux on the Desktop?

Jan 4 2008, 12:54pm CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Over the Holidays I played with my Asus Eee PC 8G (straight from Taiwan) and it's Linux desktop operating system. It is not perfect, but it works surprisingly well and I can do everything with it that I do on my Windows PC, which should be pretty scary for Microsoft at this point in time. I have been a Microsoft OS user since DOS times and never ever considered another desktop OS. Sure we run Linux on our web servers, but for the Desktop it was never an option in my thinking. In 2007 I opened my household to the Mac OS and I was pleasantly surprised how well this Apple stuff works. And now Linux on a tiny cheap laptop actually works for me and I am not installing XP on it, because I do not miss anything.

2008 will see a big push of low priced hardware and those systems will ship with Linux desktop operating systems like the gOS that Everex uses on its low-priced PCs already. Dell has also been shipping Ubuntu Linux computers since last May as well.
For lots of users out there Linux on the desktop combined with Google Applications and Open Office is a real Windows alternative.
Linux on the desktop is not as sleek and cool as the Apple Mac OS yet though. With Microsoft's Vista not really getting the love from users, who would rather stay on Windows XP than upgrade (including myself), it looks like Microsoft needs to act now to prevent Linux and Apple from suddenly dissolving their desktop dominance.

Maybe Bill Gates will present something on Sunday in his CES 2008 keynote that will aim against the Linux running low-priced PC and Notebook movement of 2008.

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Luigi Lugmayr
Luigi is the founding chief Editor of I4U News and brings over 15 years experience in the technology field to the ever evolving and exciting world of gadgets. He started I4U News back in 2000 and evolved it into vibrant technology magazine.
Luigi can be contacted directly at ml@i4u.com. Luigi posts regularly on LuigiMe.com about his experience running I4U.