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RSSWindows 7 To Kill Linux on Desktop? Oh Really?
As Microsoft keeps working on the development of Windows 7, I am starting to hear all sorts of reviews and feedback. Most people that tried it are happy with the OS, I won’t deny that. But then another day I came across an article on The Inquirer titled Windows 7 is enough to kill Linux on the desktop.
I didn’t want to be a basher, so I took the time to read it despite getting annoyed by the title.
So what are the arguments of the author? Basically he says that Windows 7 is somewhat stable, has some nice graphics, and also runs fine with open source applications. Then, and don’t ask me how on Earth, the guy concludes that given those factors, user friendly Linux distributions like Ubuntu won’t be worthwhile anymore.
Say what?
I do believe that Windows 7 will be an improvement for Microsft. After all they are launching an OS after Vista, so it is not like it would be too hard to achieve that…
Regardless, I don’t see Windows 7 removing the main two advantages that Linux has over Windows, even if you consider desktop users.
One: Linux is open source, and therefore free and supported by the community
Two: Linux is one of the most secure desktop operating systems out there
If you then consider the fact that with each new release most Linux distros are also getting very user friendly and graphically appealing, well, I don’t see how Windows 7 is going to hurt it.
Now I am not arguing that Linux on desktop is mainstream, or that it will become anytime soon. But you can’t deny that is does have its market, and its market share (albeit small) has been growing steadily.
I wonder why that guy has not checked the numbers, in fact.
The W3Counter reports that in May 2007 1,26% of the Internet users from around the world were using Linux as their OS. In December 2008 this number is up to 2,13%, with a growth of almost 70%.
The overall number might not seem big, but Apple’s OS X is not far away, with 5,24% of market share.
If anything, therefore, Linux is growing steadily, and I don’t think Windows 7 will change this pattern.
Daniel Scocco on January 23, 2009
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>> Linux is hands down the most secure operating system out there
Nit picking, but that’s more likely to be FreeBSD.
You say:
“Two: Linux is hands down the most secure operating system out there”
That is absolutely wrong. No linux distribution, anywhere, is as secure as OpenBSD. Period.
I re-phrased that to most secure desktop operating system.
You don’t see too many people using FreeBSD around, but yeah it is the most secure one.
Until MS can replicate something like synaptic for installing/maintaining software, I can’t ever see myself switching back. I’ve been on Linux exclusively since 2002. At this point when I use Windows, it feels hopelessly clunky.
How did that shit manage to get printed. Windows is dead and i dont understand why the hell are people so obsessed with windows like a damsel in distress crying out for her lover
How did that rubbish manage to get printed. Windows is dead and i dont understand why the hell are people so obsessed with windows like a damsel in distress crying out for her lover
The problem is that Microsoft seem to be going backwards . With each new update of XP it seems to get worse – bugs appear that wern’t there before . Performance goes down . Tried Vista – that was a nightmare – will avoid it if at all possible . Windows 7 ? – can’t see that it will be any better . Personally I would like to see all the problems with Wndows Xtra Problems sorted out first , then any new OS based on this . Meanwhile I have to seriously look at alternatives such as Linux and Apple Mac OS . If Linux can supply all the apps. that I need to the quality that I require – and I’m certainly prepared to pay – then Linux it is .
@Ben
Apparently, M$ is trying to do just that
see this gizmodo article http://i.gizmodo.com/5138088/w.....oft-survey
I tried the Win7 beta and the interface is really good. As a developer and power user I want the OS to be useful, not pretty, and Win7 achieves this quite well. The UI is such an improvement over XP in fact that I had decided to switch to it (a BETA) permanently. Unfortunately, it’s also shit slow, and that’s caused me to go back to XP. Maybe the release version will speed things up. Meh. Probably not.
Linux is out of the question as it stands. Maybe in another 10 years.
First of all: no OS is safe. Sorry: once that OS hits the internet, it’s no longer safe, despite what it loads and what it does not. Computers, any computer running an OS, is relative safe until it makes that connection to the outside world.
And before someone even puts the cart together that is supposedly before the horse: Betas are virtually athletes without the steroids, or the Beatles without the entire Fab Four: impressed with their commitment, it’s something you have been waiting for, but face it: IT’S A BETA!
I remember when Safari would end Microsoft, or so people said: they were not saying it would outdo IE, they were saying it would END MICROSOFT! in all caps. Turns out Apple has their own security hole problems and viruses now, slowly catching up to Windows and Internet Explorer. Yeah, MS screwed up big, first of all, with XP limiting its functionality right from the start with applications, hardware, software, and even BIOS; and yeah, they blew it with Vista with the repeat performance, only much slower and power hungry.
So before I start pulling that cart before the horse like everyone else did on every OS BEFORE the OS final product ever came out, I’m going to curb my enthusiasm and my bias. I will do what a responsible person should do: wait for the final, then try it.
I always liked the Windows family application mainly because I have no idea about other OS
But when i have clicked the link to read about the great powers of Windows the first thing the grabbed my attention is the WEB Site caption which read: News, reviews, facts and friction..
what the heck is this “friction” doing??? isn’t supposed to read as “fiction”?
Good article Daniel. First thing to note is Microsoft discriminated by creating separate editions for some continents. It is like racism, isn’t it? Why they differentiated based on developed and undeveloped? Even countries like Canada, Australia, India are not listed for Win7 Professional/Ultimate edition?
This move will definitely take MS down and these countries will use Linux. Now how MS will take Linux down in those countries? Like it or not, people in those undeveloped countries will either use Linux or will use torrent for win 7 ultimate edition
. So this is the illusion of Microsoft.
Not to say that one or the other will fail or totally succeed on the desktop, but I do know that the first reason you list nobody cares about. And the people are only starting to understand the 2nd point because they know now that Macs don’t get viruses.
You go around telling people that Linux never gets viruses, or worms, they’ll not think “wow that Linux is cool”. What they will say is “Sort of like Mac?”
Microsoft (and Windows) will prevail as long as the plebs watch television and read the red-tops.
i agree that Windows 7 will never crush Linux because its open source, but surely it has got enough to grab more fans. It is Faster, Easier, Sleek and no doubt safer than earlier version of windows!
Also dont forget the Touch Screen OS era coming with Windows 7!!
“That is absolutely wrong. No linux distribution, anywhere, is as secure as OpenBSD. Period.”
Wrong. If a Linux distribution is shipped with only the tools relating to what the Linux kernel supports and some basic GNU userland….. then what you end up with is a system with better security than OpenBSD.
For starters, OpenBSD only has chroot() and systrace – which is known to have many serious holes. Linux offers LXC (and a myriad of patch-based solutions such as OpenVZ), SELinux, SMACK and a few others (natively, with many patch-on solutions too!) which are known to offer strong security/containment when utilised.
Also, the software which is audited in the OpenBSD main system may indeed be more secure than the various apps included with most Linux distributions; but humans can make mistakes – the OS’es ability to enforce permissions should come first (which isn’t the case with OBSD).
When it comes to reputations for security… OpenVMS competes strongly with OpenBSD. The few new vulnerabilities that are found are DoS exploits.
That could be because it isn’t really a general-purpose system (it’s for a non-x86, non-PPC architecture for example) and thus gets a very low marketshare/userbase.