Thanks, I had a few issues when I tried to install it (only a couple of years ago) but I didn't try that hard. Nice to know and I may try it again some time.

1. Technical know how.

Some Linux flavours demand (atleast to some degree) knowledge about general internals of a computer. While windows does not expect much from users. Not all people may be comfortable with this.

2. fear factor

let me be clear, i have talked to many hard core fans of windows. They say its due to utter fear that they do even touch linux!. They fear that problems will come in case they use linux.

of course reasons provided herein are also perfectly valid. In general, there are combination of reasons which prompt users go for windows.

Another important reason is that children are generally are placed in environments (schools/colleges) were work is done with windows. As it gets fits into the mind, the default choice is Windows!

this is my personal opinion. No offense towards anyone.
forgive typos sending from mobile.

ntu929.

Not to mention the FUD campaigns MS did and many have fallen for it.

Don't forget that Microsoft have come from a position of such market domination for such a long period of time that the general public only knew of the existence of Apple MACs or WindowsPC's - just like that, the terms Windows became synonymous with PC, in the same way that here in the UK Hoover were so dominant for a period of time that we "hoover" rather than vacuum the floor.

The whole pre-installation thing, along with pretty much outright extortion, meant that the PC became a consumer item in which Windows was an integral part. Most of these non tech savvy users react to the offer to trying linux on their PC in the same way they would react if you offered to open up their brand new TV and change the software in it. Or if you offered to tweak the fuel mixture in their engine management of their car. They have no comprehension of the fact that the two things are separate, you just talking crazy talk!

I think this is bourne out by the fact that android, as a linux distro, has taken of for the very reason that it is embedded in a new type of product that people don't have such deeply entrenched expectations of what it will do and what it will look like.

Everyone should bookmark, tweet, disqus, linkedin, google+ and facebook this link. Brilliant! Shows your average Mum using Arch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWyqJ...&feature=share

I think the description is a little misleading. Going by the video the lady uses a new OS every couple of days though admittedly helped by her son. I'd prefer to see a video of a largely unaided person syncing their iPhone to Linux or running a program designed for Windows as that's what anyone trying to convert somebody to Linux will face as "unofficial tech support".
Don't get me wrong, I think there are misconceptions that Linux is hard to install and use and they can sometimes be dismissed by referring to videos such as this but it is frankly easy to use any OS at all when things are working it's when things go wrong or you can't get something to work that it becomes that much harder with free OSs. You only have to read this very website to see just how difficult it is to do some things on Linux compared to OSX or Windows. Heck, Steam has fewer games on it so if you've already bought Steam games that's another reason you won't want to switch.

chris pirilo experimented with his dad who is a longtime windows user: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltE_ekc8kE8
he also has a similar video with mac and windows 8.

I'm not a 12 year old with a 2 second attention span but does this video show a neophyte solving problems on their own or somebody being given a working Linux system then just using it?

Gentlebeings ... perhaps "the irrelevance of the world as you knew it" ... is, at last ... happening to you!



"In my day" ... (and by-the-way that was 'just' about 20-30 years ago) ... the then-state of-the-art was that "minicomputers" (machines about the size of a shoebox) were the most-recent development. Semiconductor density was such that "about 256K" could fit on a commercially-feasible chip. Microprocessors had 16-bit or 24-bit busses. Virtual memory was not yet available on single-chip machines. That was "the state of the art" at that time.

Today, if I may cautiously (and respectfully...) say, I definitely have a sense of deja vu!

(Could it be... that ... "these kids today!!" ... are experiencing, for themselves, what (not so...!) long ago, we felt?!?!)

Today, "the Fundamental Thing That Is Changing™" is ... "the platform." Just as "the <<mainframe | minicomputer>>" was, in (the ebb of) their day, "no longer relevant" ...

... now, today, the same(!) thing is happening to "the Laptop."

And (if I may very-humbly say ...) your reaction (all of you ...) seems "just as awkward."

You see, when you think "Linux/Unix," you think esoteric. And, furthermore, you think of a world in which "esoteric knowledge" (such as you happen to possess ...) is Required. Well, not so long ago, folks thought exactly the same about "JCL," or "RSTS/E commands," or "MPE," or ... well, you get the idea.

... about: "The State Of The Art." Then... TODAY(!)...

Now, "you, too" are confronted with The Future. "The State Of The Art" ...As You Know/Knew It ... is once again Being Superseded.

Today, literally millions of Ordinary People have "≤Unix | Linux≥ machines" in their pockets. They don't have the faintest idea "how they work," nor do they need, much less want, to know. NONE OF THEM have Computer Science Degrees! Your "hard-won esoteric knowledge" is not only "not-valued" but for the most part "irrelevant." (If 'their phone' does not do what they want, they simply Buy A New One.)

Welcome to the "brave new world" that y-o-u did not expect: throw-away ≤Linux | Unix | Windows | ...who-cares(!?!?!)≥ ... computing.

... and now, "along with the rest of us(!!)" ... hang on(!) for what(ever) comes next!!!

pipelight and Windows browser UA and you're golden for netflix...

There is no support for commercial SW in Linux until I can install Ps or iTunes it will remain a small minority.

You get it backwards. It is commercial software not supporting Linux.

That analysis misses one key factor. Linux, and as far as know BSD as well, is designed on a foundation of freedom of choice (GUI, file manage, disc burning utilities, etc.). That freedom is acheived by giving the user power over the computer. Power comes at a price. It requires some basic knowledge. Power and ignorance is a dangerous combination. Look at any users' forum and you will see people desperate for help after destroying their systems by running copy-and-pasted shell commands, without understanding what those commands do. A throw-away telephone that requires no knowledge to operate is comparable to Windows and Mac, but has no relevance to a computer operating system like Linux.

Agreed, thanks to Companies like Steam, more commercial developers are coming to Linux


Why is Linux less popular than Windows and Mac, As said in other post, they are not offered as OEM installed and when Dell offered it, they got so much bad feed back from it, because users didn't understand they needed to Find MS Alternatives.

Bill Gates seen something back in the day that the average user does not and would not have the skills to hop on a PC and go with the flow, so he designed it to work well out of the box and through marketing, it bloomed well.

As for Linux on the other hand, its design is to be Free, Flexible, and do as you please kind of thing,

As a result, it requires alot more configuration and tweaking to your likings, and if don't know what you truely want, you'll be tweaking your system for life as I still do. But I like to customize my stuff the way I want it.

There are Distros like Ubuntu, that are making it far easier for the everyday users to hope on and go with the flow, but as most computer savvy people know, Distros like Ubuntu make it more of a pain to customize, because you have undo alot more works, so intern they go to distros like Debian, Slackware, etc aka the root of Distros.

You left out how he and Allen destroyed the competition that refused to be bought out. It was not just promotion. It was also "an aggressive business strategy."