I have recently installed xandros 3 open circulation edition to give it a test spin as an altertnative to xp for my desktop solution.
I run several RHEL servers so I am aware of the linux environment and I think xandros looks good however, the open circulation edition is limited and I dont really care for the xandros network proprietary packaging system but I can live with it.
My point is ....now that I have found a suitable linux distro for a desktop that my staff can easily work on I have lost the main reason that a business would go to linux in the first place, the cost.
At $120.00 for the business edition of xandros desktop in order to give my staff the look and compatibility of windows I could just get OEM versions of XP pro. Dont get me wrong, as a computer tech I prefer linux for stability, extensibility, and its security but we are talking about end user friendlyness.
If xandros were free or even around 50 bucks it would be a good solution but I dont see the point in trying to come close to windows for 120 dollars when you can have windows for 120 dollars.

Thanks for listening to my gripe.

Except, what do you actually get for your Windows money? An OS and, erm, Works if you're lucky. How much would it cost to install Windows to all of your pcs?

With Xandros, taking your single licence version as the example, you get the OS, a professional office suite and loads of other software. The 5 licence version is $495 - how much would 5 Windows licences cost?

And by using Xandros, you can reuse older pcs, with Windows you are pretty much tied into an upgrade cycle - hardware and software.

Those are all valid points. I am not arguing against linux. I use it, I like it. I guess what I am saying is that I wish a xandros type of distro was under a GPL license.
Its not that I mind paying for a decent product, maybe its that I can see that commercializing user friendly linux distros like xandros is the beginning of the end of the open source movement.

It has happened in RHEL and in Xandros. Are ALL distros going to become pay per use as they enter the "works out of the box" arena?

Should linux only be free if its a pain to configure?
When does ease of administration become a price tag?

With distros like Xandros and RedHat, they are aimed at the business market and you are paying for support rather than the OS. With Windows, it's the other way around. If your office is small enough not to want to pay for professional support, or you just don't want it, go for something like SimplyMepis or similar. That way you get ease of use and setup and you get the distro for free (or for the price of one copy if you want to support the distro).

If running Windows apps is what you need, get a multiuser licence for Crossover Office or, if you don't want to pay for it and don't mind some fiddling to get it to work, just go straight for Wine.

One good community desktop option that can give an end user a very windows-like experience is OpenSuse10: http://www.opensuse.org

This is the community version of Suse10 and is available at no cost, providing you consider your own efforts to be “no cost”. It has fairly up-to-date content and is KDE centric. The YaST control panel makes administration simple for linux illiterates.

If you want to compare the options to full-blown Suse10, then you can download the Suse10 installation disks and try them out side-by-side.

**********

The bottom line on retail vs community linux is that if you have the money to buy support for a linux desktop or server, but don’t have the internal support, then the support offered by Novell/Suse and RedHat for their products is worth paying for.

If money is an issue and you can provide support internally, then community options like OpenSuse and CentOS are worth looking into.

Thank you for the valued notes. I agree with all of your points and am re-thinking my opinion of xandros a bit after the input in this thread. I just hate to see linux become an option for a desktop solution only if it has a price tag since we have all followed linux this far as open source and would like to see it remain that way.