p2pnet.net News:- Mercury News columnist Dan Gillmor says it looks as if he’s going to have to re-think something he’d been taking for granted: "that Linux on the desktop, and especially the laptop, was a non-starter in the operating systems race".

What turned him around?

Linux rejuvenated his laptop.

"The software package I’m using is from Xandros (www.xandros.com), one of several companies that has put together free software (including Linux and a variety of applications) into a coherent desktop system." he writes on said laptop.

"The Xandros Desktop OS 2.0 also comes with some commercial software that even lets me run the most widely used Windows programs, but without having to run Windows itself.

"Another reason I’m reconsidering the future of Linux on the desktop (and laptop) is the application software I’m using to write this column: Star Office 7.0, the latest and most impressive version of Sun Microsystems’ low cost alternative to Microsoft Office."

And one more reason to think Linux is becoming a serious contender: "Wal-Mart, the retailing giant, is beginning to play the same hardball with desktop computing that it has played with everything else. It’s selling Linux PCs, including, in a new deal, a system loaded with Sun’s ‘Java Desktop System,’ another Linux distribution that impresses me with its relative ease of use."

But, Gillmor goes on, he doesn’t want to overstate the situation and still thinks the best way for an average person to run Unix on a PC is, "to buy a Macintosh from Apple. OS X has many capabilities that even the best versions of Linux can’t match so far."

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 7th, 2004 at 12:19 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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