[Bug 1] Re: Microsoft has a majority market share

[Conrad Knauer]

Two years ago Michael Dell said:

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"People are always asking us to support Linux on the desktop, but the question is: 'Which Linux are you talking about?' If we say we like Ubuntu, then people will say we picked the wrong one. If we say we like and support Ubuntu, Novell, Red Hat, and Xandros, then someone would ask us, 'Why don't you support Mandriva? The challenge we have with picking one is that we think we'd disenchant the other distributions' supporters. It's not that there are too many Linux desktop distributions, it's that they're all different, they all have supporters, and none of them can claim a majority of the market. If you look at DistroWatch, you'll see zillions of these distributions. Which one should we do? And, everyone keeps telling us that they want different distributions. So, our conclusion is to do them all and let the customer decide."
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http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS3822185143.html

A year ago they started selling Ubuntu systems.

Today I read this:

"No Consumer Linux from Novell or Red Hat"
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/blogs/mcallister_on_software/144799/no_consumer_linux_from_novell_or_red_hat.html

Basically, Novell and Red Hat won't be trying to get consumer desktop
market share, focusing instead only on the 'enterprise' desktop market;
Fedora and openSUSE thus appear to be relegated to 'hobbyist OS' level.
Ubuntu is now THE distro of choice for home use, with no major
competitors, but I think we've known that for some time:

http://www.google.com/trends?q=Fedora%2C+Debian%2C+Ubuntu%2C+SUSE%2C+Mandriva&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=2
(note that we're due for a big bump in the search results in about a week :)

So going forward with Hardy, its time to focus on a new trend graph:

http://www.google.com/trends?q=XP%2C+Vista%2C+Ubuntu%2C+Apple&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=2

:-)

XP is on its way out; Vista is mediocre at best and an excellent example
of bloatware, but still has inertia helping it along; OS X is tied to
Apple's hardware, so the mid-to-high end of the market.

There's going to be a tipping point soon; the "race to the bottom" that Sony, et al are terrified of: $300 (or less) sub-notebooks and similar devices.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9879798-7.html

That's not Apple's market.  Vista won't run on them.  XP, even
discounted, would add a significant percentage cost.

Then there's Ubuntu :)

I hope to see Hardy Heron really take flight and see some Ubuntu
preloads from new sources this year.  On store shelves for Christmas
would be nice :)

-- 
Microsoft has a majority market share
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1
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