Time may be right for Linux PCs to emerge...Hmmm ?

The EeePC, a 2-pound notebook, uses the Linux operating system. Linux
has a chance to finally crack Microsoft's hold on computing's most
visible domain — mainstream PCs — because of the rise of innovative,
inexpensive machines such as this one.

The free Linux operating system handles big
tasks like running supercomputers and ATMs. Now Linux has a chance to
finally crack Microsoft's hold on computing's most visible domain
—mainstream PCs — because of the rise of innovative, inexpensive
machines.
Of
course, prognosticators perennially say Linux is on the verge. It gets
high marks for security and stability and is widely used behind the
scenes in corporate servers, making it a natural candidate to steal
desktop thunder from Microsoft's dominant Windows. (Msnbc.com is a
joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)
And yet Linux PCs still represent less than 2 percent of the market.This time, though, there's actually evidence of momentum.,While the best features in the latest Windows
release, Vista, require top-notch configurations that can quickly ramp
up a PC's price, one of the hottest segments of the industry involves
inexpensive computers.
Laptops
under $400 are real possibilities now, and some of the most buzz-worthy
use Linux, such as Asustek Computer Inc.'s EeePC and the One Laptop Per
Child Foundation's $200 "XO" computer for schoolchildren. Linux also is
available on slim little "netbooks" being pushed by Intel Corp.


Good fit for inexpensive PCs

Not
only is Linux essentially free to the PC vendor, but the operating
system also is better suited than Vista for cheap PCs' spartan hardware
designs. (Windows XP is available on scaled-back PCs like Intel's
Classmate, but it's unclear what will happen after Microsoft soon stops
selling XP to the general public.)
Amazon.com's
top-selling PCs include several Asustek Linux machines. Although
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recently stopped a test run of selling Linux PCs
in some stores, the company says it will continue to offer them online.
Business
computing suppliers are finding open-source desktops especially gaining
traction in cost-conscious developing markets. For example, IBM Corp.
and Linux vendor Red Hat Inc. recently launched Microsoft-free desktops
for Eastern Europe.
One
buyer is Aleksandar Spagnut, a director of Moscow-based Rushotel, which
needed new desktop PCs for a hotel-building project. Spagnut said his
company saved 30 to 35 percent over comparable Windows machines.
He
added that Linux PCs are now common enough that a snowball effect is
emerging, whereby technical support and "drivers" — which essentially
tell programs how to interact with hardware — are much easier to find.
"This really makes the difference," he said.


A changing conception of computers

Linux
might benefit from a changing conception of what computers are for.
With the rise of Web-based applications that reduce the need for
desktop-bound software, more of the action comes through an Internet
browser now. The feel of the underlying operating system is less
important.
That
means Linux consumers can get a lot out of their computers even if they
are put off by what many reviewers still cite as Linux's biggest flaw:
its uneven user-friendliness. Some tweaks to Linux machines require
higher-than-average computing savvy, although this is less of an issue
than in the past.
Perhaps
more importantly, if the desktop operating system fades further into
the background, PC makers could have greater incentive to save money on
it by offering Linux. The price that big PC manufacturers pay Microsoft
for Windows varies and is not disclosed, but is believed to commonly
exceed $50 per PC.
"I'm
a big believer in the inevitable forces of economics — they're like
glaciers," said Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical Ltd., which is
releasing a new version of Ubuntu, a leading version of Linux that can
run PCs. "Glaciers carve out terrain. It takes time."
Linux
on the desktop doesn't have to take off like crazy to really start to
matter. Of the 981 million PCs in existence worldwide last year, 1.7
percent ran Linux, according to Gartner Inc. That sounds paltry. But
Apple's Mac operating system accounted for just 2.5 percent, and Apple
is considered a significant, influential alternative to Windows.
"Every
point is billions of dollars to Microsoft," says Jim Zemlin, head of
The Linux Foundation, a consortium devoted to advancing Linux. His
group is meeting with top PC makers next week in Austin, Texas, in
hopes of accelerating their efforts to sell Linux machines.


PC makers treading carefully

The
top PC makers have so far treaded carefully. Dell Inc.'s Web site sells
Ubuntu computers in a separate section for open-source PCs, out of
direct comparison with Windows machines. Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden
said the placement reflects the fact that Linux is still not a
mainstream consumer product.
Linux is partly hampered by its greatest asset: its widely dispersed nature.
Linux
is a core set of code called a kernel; developers build different
layers of software on top of it to serve different computing purposes.
(Open-source providers make money by charging for add-on services, such
as technical support or security upgrades.)
As a result, Linux comes in many flavors,
known as distributions, fracturing the push Linux might otherwise make.
In fact, some programs written for one distribution don't work in
another.
"We
haven't figured out to how to federate the marketing of the technology
as well as we've figured out how to develop the technology," Zemlin
acknowledged.