Linux Comes to the Desktop

Like the day-to-day lives in the Sims, Linux allows for a new interface with reality.

Linux still appeals to those who either prefer not to help bankroll an illegal monopoly's profits or who seek a more stable and secure operating system. For the rest of us, Linux also offers costs savings afforded by its open-source platform and it more than does the job as an operating system.

For the timid, Linux virtual operating systems also exist for those who do not want to yet take the leap of faith and want to try out Linux without altering their Windows OS platform. And for the non-believer, there is also ample evidence of Linux' growing desktop penetration and application support. However, all of this does not mean that Linux does not have its drawbacks, either.

The Stats

As THG reported earlier this year from New York during LinuxWorld, big gun OEMs and their suppliers are allotting R&D and marketing budgets for Linux applications, including servers and portable applications, as well as for desktops. The world's largest PC OEMs and suppliers, including Dell, HP, Intel, AMD and IBM, not to mention peripheral suppliers, including printer, digital camera or storage makers, increasingly offer plug-and-play support for Linux OS'.

But what does this mean for the desktop? This year, many large corporate OEMs and software distributors have even exclaimed that 2004 will be the "year for Linux on the desktop."

However, while Linux continues to demonstrate its growing promise as a viable desktop application, it will not tame the 800-pound OS gorilla anytime soon. According to several analysts interviewed, Linux will not see application on more than three per cent of all PCs by the end of this year. But that does not mean, however, that Linux is not growing like gangbusters, either.

This year, for example, new Linux client operating environment licenses will grow 25% per year from 3.4 million units to 10.4 million by 2007, according to analyst firm IDC.

For servers, already a mainstay for Linux, Linux platform sales will grow from $3 billion in 2003 to nearly $8 billion by 2008, according to analyst firm IDC. In units, Linux server sales will grow from fewer than one million units last year to over two million units by 2007.