For one thing, Ubuntu has (for better or worse) made significant progress toward their UI vision. Unity has been polarizing, but many users (especially the "normal" people who are likely to buy an Inspiron or similar) seem to like it.
Even more importantly, a significant number of users today (in any case, more than there were back then) basically only care about having a web browser installed. This means they are less likely to care about having MS Windows (FF and Chrome run on all three "major" platforms).
To anyone who doesn't like Unity, I recommend [Lubuntu](http://lubuntu.net/). Still has the Ubuntu user-friendliness, but no Gnome & Unity.
Shouldn't people have the choice which new GUI they learn?
And the relearning curve doesn't seem to be hindering the Mac, or the iPad, both of which face the same challenge and yet are taking market share.
If the latest rumors of EA being in talks with Ubuntu are true, then if massively successful games start appearing for the platform, it may well signify a turning point for desktop Linux.
Here's hoping widespread desktop Linux finally becomes a reality. Well deserved for the amazing work Ubuntu has put into it.
If it did, it would be doing so on the downswing of the desktop as a platform.
People will still do work with traditional computers, but mobile looks set to replace them for entertainment and browsing.
This may be true, but I'd like to point out that I've been hearing this since 1980something.
(hint: "Year %s, the year of desktop linux?")
How can this be fixed? I think the entire package management system has to be based on a more robust transactional infrastructure. Unless the user confirms the success of an upgrade, the system has to be rolled back to its original state. If the system doesn't boot, it must boot straight into the old system version on the next reboot.
Upgrades should not be something that anyone hesitates to do, but I know Ubuntu users who'd rather install new software on a separate computer instead of upgrading the fragile Ubuntu installation. The close coupling of application versions to OS versions is the main reason for that. The sources.list concept is just too complicated for most people.
I've also broken an install because I tried an upgrade and there wasn't enough free space.
But that doesn't mean Ubuntu isn't fit for end users. My mother and my sister are running Ubuntu on their laptops and do just fine. And they are in no way technical: they just use the OS for their needs, be it browsing, music, movie playback, photo management, etc. I was actually surprised when I went at a small barbecue for my sister's birthday and she had brought her laptop and was playing CDs some friends brought with music. There was no friction -- the laptop just did its job, just as it would have been with any other OS.
You do have a point though: upgrades should be transactional and I'm surprised there is no way to rollback a failed upgrade. I'm actually postponing upgrading them to 12.04 because I don't want to risk breaking the current setup they have and give myself extra work for nothing. I've decided to only apply the security updates for now and switch to 12.04 when end-of-life is reached for their current version.
The most problematic part IMO is Evolution. This program almost always causes trouble during upgrades, not only on Ubuntu (I had problems upgrading Slackware GSB at home too). Use Thunderbird or Claws or whatever other mailer if you can...
NEVER WAITED??? I bet you were too young to remember those days because Micorsoft(Bill Gates) promised Windows(3.11) like 6 years before it was ready. Windows was coming "soon", and "soon" and "soon", for years.
And better we don't talk about DOS. DRDOS was much better than MSDOS, but MS made windows over DRDOS so they had not to compete on technical merits.
You can still install it on your own machine, but as far as official support goes, you're on your own.
There are so many device makers out there trying to replicate the feel of a MacBook Pro with Windows. Seems like it would be easier with Ubuntu. The success of Apple sprang mostly from marketing and differentiation, it could happen to Ubuntu with a little motivation.
I wouldn't want to buy a System76 laptop in Romania and ship it back to the States if it needs service under the warranty.
A better question is whether Best Buy will still be selling computers or anything at all down the road.
I'm happy Ubuntu is starting to gain this type of traction, but it needs two things to really make the leap:
1) Mass market game compatibility. The mainstream computer user needs office tools, a browser, email, music, video, and games. Games are the only absentee from Ubuntu. Some major upgrades to Wine could solve this.
2) A mobile strategy There's definitely been attempts to put Ubuntu on mobile devices, but nothing concrete from Canonical. If they had been more forward thinking, they could have been Android instead of Android being Android.
Finally, I'd personally like to see a lite version of the latest Ubuntu releases. The reason I got into Ubuntu in the first place was to bring new life to my old hardware. Unity doesnt work at all on old hardware, and the fallback is not as good as the old Gnome 2 experience. I'm still running 10.10 on a number of machines because it was my favorite release.
Input methods have a huge impact on application design. A app for touch devices is significantly different from a mouse and keyboard device.
Since touch devices are invading the living room and become premier gaming platforms (also in combination with gamepads and large TVs), the classic desktop does only need to focus on applications and use cases that are optimized for Mouse and Keyboard input.
That's why I think Ubuntu should stay with the classic desktop, and Android should keep its focus on devices with less precise/fast inputs like touch/trackball/remote controls
> At more than 200 Dell stores in China, there is Ubuntu branding present and Dell China employees knowledgeable about Ubuntu Linux.
One of the things I noticed when I went to download Precise Pangolin is that there's a "Chinese Ubuntu" link featured prominently at the bottom of the page[0]. It looks like they've made China a primary target market, since the vast majority of Windows users there are running pirated copies and cannot afford to pay for a legitimate copy.
but my main concern will be the those who buy an ubuntu machine and then expect to run ms office or other windows only piece of software on it. i will be getting those calls. thankfully most of the home users aren't as dependent on windows only apps anymore.
The skills I have on Linux only become more valuable as the user base grows.
OEMs also know there's an easy way out if they don't sell - chuck windows on them and shift them out through clearance sales.
This is all marketoid speil from their marketing VP at the moment.
Government and public services.
Can anyone confirm this?
If you look at the online review for them, the first remark people have is about how Windows drivers are hard to find. Or they ask about the Windows score.
I once called the Samsung hotline asking about Linux support for a laptop they were selling with FreeDOS and the answer was that they only collaborate with Microsoft.
Otoh, it is actually quite hard to find a laptop that's Linux certified. We bought a HP ProBook just because it was certified although it came with Suse.
From my experience -- ThinkPads usually work quite smoothly with popular linux distros.
Sure Microsoft might not like that, but unless Microsoft is paying them to not allow Linux on their laptops (which I think would be illegal), then who cares?
I hate Unity myself, but I've switched to Xubuntu. There's also Kubuntu, and even if these are supported by the community, they do a better job than most other distros.
Also don't be fooled by stats.
With HUD in 12.04, it's the only widely-used DE I can control almost entirely with keyboard.
but ubuntu is still an organisation to support especially in terms of them helping produce hardware that will be 100% linux compatible no matter what distro i choose to run.
I don't know what resources you are talking about, but it's definitely not wasting my screen resources as others do.
My vertical spaced is saved my menu-on-panel integration, on fullscreen title goes into panel too. Left-panel is also nice, it doesn't do "minimize on second click" as docky or others, it does nice "overview" on click on multi-window app. And finally, it also saves space by combining launcher and app-switcher.
Most of Ubuntu preinstalls won't even live to boot. A shame really.
To be formatted and have (pirated?) Windows installed.
We saw the same story unfold with those Walmart Linux PC et al...
