Dell, HP and Lenovo concur. Each of them is now offering Linux pre-installed. In Dell’s case, it’s Ubuntu. However, the problem with Linux is that it’s still a little rough around the edges, especially with driver issues, as OEM’s aren’t quite used to supporting it yet. In addition, there’s also the fact that Linux distros won’t play mp3’s (lack of license from Fraunhofer, so at worst they’ll have to wait until the patents for the mp3 expire in five years) or DVD’s (again, lack of a license). In addition, you still need to use a command line for several of the important tasks, rather than there being an equivalent to the Control Panel in XP and Vista.
If distro makers (especially Ubuntu’s KDE) can fix these problems, then yes, Linux will have a real shot at overthrowing Windows, especially at the corporate level. Many companies already use a flavor of Linux for their servers, so switching their desktops over to Linux may not be as hard as they would think.
Really, as a user I'm not at all interested in who is at the 'top of the heap' as it were, all I'm interested is in what works. Linux works, for the time being, so I use it. If ever there becomes a time where something else works better for my needs then I'll adopt that one. XP worked for good amount of years, then it began to *not* work so well anymore (too many 'patches' bogged it down? I dunno) ... re-installs after re-installs and then the massive 'security updates' seemed to have slowed XP down to a crawl, even after a clean re-install.
MM
Huh?
Worst case, go get the Linux LAME sources and compile the binaries yourself, if you can't find the compiled codec...
Heck, I use the LAME Windows codec a lot under XP. For one thing, it has more options at the lower end, such as when "time shifting" AM radio shows. Do you really need 48KHz/320Kbs/stereo, when 22.05Khz/16Kbs/mono (or even 11Khz/8Kbs/mono) does the trick, given the source?
I’ve been playing with(and tweaking) Knoppix 5.1
Ut is very, very impressive, and I never thought I would hear myself say that about a Linux distro.
I just wish they’d make the myconfig=scan boot option the default...