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Fuzzy Logic Dell goes Ubuntu at last – is it the end for Windows?
Fuzzy Logic Dell goes Ubuntu at last – is it the end for Windows? | Dell goes Ubuntu at last – is it the end for Windows? |
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| Written by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Friday, 25 May 2007 | |
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As such, it comes pre-loaded with most of the software the user needs to get going immediately – no need to buy and install any software, just transfer your data across and get going, things like your documents, your email, address book, favorites and other needed data. But is it the end for Windows? Don't make me laugh. Ubuntu is as much the end of Windows, as Vista is the end of Ubuntu or Mac OS X – at least as things stand today and for the forseeable future. Windows XP is an operating system that works, with Vista fast catching up, already the operating system used every day by millions of people worldwide, even if it isn’t as many people as the 40 million copies Microsoft says they’ve sold. Vista is far more stable and supported than any version of consumer Linux has ever been, and whether you like Vista/XP or not, Microsoft has set the standard for the broadest popular hardware and software support. Macs aren’t too far behind, with Linux still in third place – but this state of affairs has finally been changing too, with driver availability slowly but steadily improving. Dell, after all, is shipping an Ubuntu system with all the drivers needed for the hardware to work as you’d expect it to under Windows. Despite both operating systems costing money, most people buy XP or Vista in preference to getting a Mac or buying a computer and installing Linux onto it, although some would claim that many consumers aren’t offered much choice but Windows machines. Well, the reality is that alternatives exist, and if people want them, they’re available, and not only have they never been better or more powerful, they’re constantly getting better. A great example of this is Ubuntu, especially now with the new Dell sales channel. So if you thought coverage of Ubuntu had hit a crescendo with the entire Dell saga of whether or not they would ever sell machines pre-loaded with Ubuntu along with all the other positive press Ubuntu has received over the last 12 months – it’s only just the start! Of course, the Dell launch of Ubuntu machines hasn’t been without some controversy over the readiness of Linux to be offered direct to consumers in such a manner. An online report led me to a blog entry called "Ubuntu 7.04 Offering--Technical Details" by John Hull, Dell's manager of Linux OS Technologies as saying that: “At this time, we are not including any support for proprietary audio or video codecs that are not already distributed with Ubuntu 7.04. These include MPEG 1/2/3/4, WMA, WMV, DVD, Quicktime, etc. We are evaluating options for providing this support in the future.” Ubuntu users have since wondered why Hull didn’t state that a user will be asked if they want to install a codec when presented with a new media file, for which they only need press yes for it to install and activate, is unclear. Licensing restrictions are said to be preventing Dell from pre-loading the required codecs, but it should be easy to make it clear that the appropriate codec will be loaded as needed if not already installed. It certainly would have avoided a number of articles saying that Ubuntu isn’t ready yet. Let’s face it. Red Hat might have been sold by Dell for several years now, and Linspire might be on sale on some Wal-mart machines, but Ubuntu is being sold by Dell, one of the biggest PC companies in the world, at prices that are similar to their Windows counterparts. Dell has the scale to deliver working Ubuntu machines, and the size to support Ubuntu users, along with the help of rest of the Ubuntu community. If Dell supporting Ubuntu can’t boost its popularity even further, now that it is so easy to buy, nothing probably ever will. So, this is good news for Dell, and for Ubuntu, but is it good news for computer users?
Read onto page 2 for the conclusion! |
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