While for years mainstream computer makers such as IBM, HP and Dellhave been professing their love for alternatives to Microsoft Windows,the overwhelming majority of open-source-powered machines are businessservers and high-priced workstations.
Finding an entry-level homePC that doesn't have a Windows XP sticker on it requires consumers tosearch through a maze of Web sites. If they try calling a major PCmaker, the agent is likely to have a hard time steering them toward aLinux-based or bare-bones system.
Red Hat Chief Executive Matthew Szulik said open-source software hasn't caught on in the industry as much as he'dlike. Red Hat itself only has a modest Linux product aimed at arelatively narrow set of customers such as those manning the phones atcall centers.
"The (Linux) desktop is like teenage sex. Everybody's talking about it,but nobody's doing it," Szulik said during his keynote speech at theVortex conference in San Francisco last week.
Consumers can always buy a copy of Linux and install it themselves.Best Buy offers Novell's Suse Linux version 10.0 in a box for $59.95.Linspire is offering its shrink-wrapped software for $99.99 online andin stores. Wal-Mart sells Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES v.3.0 BasicEdition for Intel processors online for $348. And as always,downloading an open-source operating system is also an option. However,you need an OS like Windows to connect to the Internet first, unlessyou've gotten a copy from a co-worker or friend.
Clearly, Windows continues to dominate the computing world. About 94.4percent of all the PCs and other handheld devices shipped in 2003 runWindows, according to the latest stats published by research firm IDC.Apple Computer's Macintosh OS ranked second, with 3.2 percent of thetotal operating system market, while Linux placed third with 1.4percent. Other software, such as DOS, made up the final 1 percent.
About 828.5 million desktops have shipped in the last 10 years,research firm IDC said. The overwhelming majority have some type ofMicrosoft Windows client running on them.
That's not to say Linux will sit on the sidelines. The operating systemin various forms will continue to take a bite out of Windows over thenext few years, IDC expects. Sales of PCs running the Linux operating system will reach $10 billion by 2008, according to a 2004 IDC study of the Linux ecosystem. The firm alsopredicts that the overall Linux ecosystem will grow 25.9 percentannually to reach $35.7 billion in 2008. Of that, IDC estimates $14billion will be packaged software, $10 billion PCs and $11 billionservers.
"It's no surprise that there are only a handful of non-Microsoftofferings out there for consumers today. Desktop Linux only makes upbetween 1 and 3 percent of the market, depending on which way you lookat the data," IDC analyst Al Gillen said.
Linux is not an impulse buy that consumers just stumble across andpurchase, Gillen noted. Most buyers of PCs loaded with Linux oropen-source operating systems are technically savvy customers who havea very good idea what they are looking for.
After Dell's announcement earlier this month of its Dimension E510n --which ships without an operating system installed--CNET News.com attempted tofind out how difficult it would be for a consumer to find the PC.
Dell's Web site offers a wide array of Dimension PCs andXPS-branded computers running Windows, but no open-source-powered PCs.A query in the Dell search bar for Linux resulted in a list of serversupport options, but still no consumer products.
A search for "open source" turned up Dell's "N-series" of desktops thatthe company has supported since 2003. The Dimension E510n comes with ablank hard drive and a copy of the FreeDOS operating systemthat can be installed by customers. The E510n PC retailed for $849 atthe time of the original search. The company now sells a similarlyconfigured 5150n for $559.
Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden said the Round Rock, Texas-basedcompany continues to gauge its supply of open-source-based PCsaccording to demand. The company is currently considering offering anopen-source version of its Latitude laptop computer in North America tomatch its overseas product lines.
Hewlett-Packard was the only mainstream vendor other than Dell thatwould sell a PC with non-Windows operating systems. However, it did nothave this as an option on its consumer-focused Pavilion computers. Itdid have an extensive selection of workstations, including a HP Compaqdx2000 micro tower shipping with Mandrake Linux version 9.2, priced at$462.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP said it ships more than 100,000 Linuxdesktops per quarter worldwide and said it is doing better overseas,especially with small to medium-size businesses.
"We are seeing increased interest in Linux clients from ourcustomers, particularly in regions outside North America. For example,Linux in China has a 40 percent growth rate, and we are positioning HPto accommodate customer demand in those markets," company spokeswomanAli Kops said.
Outside the United States, it's easier to buy a desktop withnon-Microsoft operating systems pre-installed. HP's Web store in theNetherlands offered three HP Compaq computers with Windows XP, SuseLinux 9.3 or FreeDOS for the same price. These models retail startingat $806 (669 euros), excluding sales tax.
Dell announced it was selling a laptop with Mandriva Linux for$916 (759 euros) in September. Aimed at French students looking for abargain, the Latitude 110L model is installed with Mandriva LinuxLimited Edition 2005, which includes various open-source applications,such as the productivity suite OpenOffice.org, image manipulationapplication GIMP and the Firefox browser.
"You have to understand that for a lot of these players, it startswith price," Bancilhon said. "There are a number of projects there thatMandriva is working on in which the country helps to fund. We are alsotalking to several of the hardware vendors in other countries in LatinAmerica and Southeast Asia."
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